Establishment

Preventing all construction ventures in the south-western suburbs of Beirut by virtue of Decree No. 6864 dated June 10, 1995 constituted the first move undertaken by the government. Decree No. 6913 followed on June 28, 1995 and stipulated the endorsement of the master plan organizing and governing the use of property in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Elissar came to light by virtue of Decree No. 6918 dated June 29, 1995 and Decree No. 9043 dated August 30, 1996.

According to the Decree, Elissar is a public entity in charge of organizing the south-western suburbs of Beirut. It enjoys moral personality and financial and administrative autonomy and falls under the posterior supervision of the Audit Court. Elissar is responsible for organizing and arranging the south-western suburbs of Beirut in alignment with Decree No. 6913 and is subjected to the administrative authority of the Prime Minister.

Scope of work

Decree No. 10231 dated May 9, 1997 gave Elissar authority to act in the area falling within the following borders:

• Northern border: the edges of administrative Beirut, Adnan Hakim Street, Suleiman Boustany Street and Jalloul Street (also known as the Monoprix zone)
• Eastern border: Airport Boulevard
• Western border: Mediterranean
• Southern border: Beirut International Airport, Cocodi Roundabout.

The total area that Elissar is responsible for is estimated at 5.8 million m2, including the areas to be reclaimed to the west of the Ouzaee Road.

Management

A board of directors consisting of 11 members is tasked of managing Elissar. The members are appointed by a decree for a term lasting three years. The president of the board serves as Director General of Elissar. Similar to the common norm in all the public bodies and administrations, the appointments in Elissar are determined on the basis of sectarian quotas; the president or Director General is Maronite while the board includes 2 Shia’a members, 1 Maronite, 1 Druze, 1 Sunni, 1 Greek Catholic and 1 Evangelical member. Not one decree has been issued since the inception of Elissar to govern the institution and its personnel.

Expenses

Since its establishment in 1995 until 2011, Elissar has been given around LBP 184 billion through the public budget allocations, the advance payments or the transfers from the budget reserves. Part of its budget was devoted to cover administrative expenses while other funds were destined to cover the evacuation operations, which, for the most part, were subjected to political considerations, noting that some occupants have received substantial compensation that exceeded by far the ceiling set by the rules and regulations.

The following table illustrates these expenses:

Source: Drfat budget laws

The main purpose behind Elissar was to organize the south-western suburbs of Beirut. However, the institution has proved incapable of putting this vision into action and its lifespan achievements were restricted to a number of evacuations that could have been processed by the Central Fund for the Displaced. Furthermore, there is a pressing need to reconsider all the plans that have been designed previously in light of the current developments. Elissar has spent around LBP 184 billion for projects that never materialized, and it continues spending today on paychecks and administrative costs with no positive results looming in horizon.