​The removal of effects and the compensation of those affected by the Beirut Port explosion, in addition to the ways of continuing subsidies, especially on medicine, wheat and basic commodities, were discussed.

President Michel Aoun continued his meetings to follow-up the work of official departments and institutions today at Baabda Palace.

In this context, the President chaired two meetings, attended by Caretaker Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, in addition to ministers and specialists. The first meeting was attended by Prime Minister Diab, Deputy Prime Minister and National Defense Minister, Zeina Akar, Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, Beirut Governor, Judge Marwan Abboud, Director General of the Lebanese Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Cabinet Secretary General, Judge Mahmoud Makkiyeh, Brigadier General, Sami Houayek, Brigadier General Staff, Wassim Al-Halabi, in addition to the President’s advisors: Brigadier General Paul Matar, Engineer Antoine Souaid, Engineer Ibrahim Berbery, and the Prime Minister’s advisors: Mr. Elias Assaf, Mr. Rami Khoury, and Jihad Al-Biqai.

The meeting was devoted to tackle the stages of the process of removing the effects of the Beirut Port explosion, the existing coordination between the Army Command and the Governorate of Beirut in terms of expediting the completion of the restoration of damaged houses before winter, and the mechanisms for compensating for the affected, provided that the decree will be issued soon concerning the President’s requested appropriation to allocate a value of 100 billion pounds for this purpose.

The difficulties encountered in carrying out some of the necessary works were also deliberated in the meeting, especially after the completion of surveys of damaged houses, property, cars and other vehicles, in addition to the post-detection phase of a number of containers in the Beirut Port which contain flammable materials.

It was decided that the Prime Minister would call for periodic meetings whenever the need arises for all concerned parties in the reconstruction process and the consequences of the explosion, provided that a meeting is held every week in the Presidential Palace, chaired by President Aoun and attended by PM Diab, to follow-up the implementation of all taken decisions.

Financial Meeting:

The second meeting was chaired by President Aoun, attended by PM Diab, Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazny, Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, Director General of the Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makkiyeh, the President’s Financial Affairs Advisor, Charbel Qordahi, and the Prime Minister’s Advisor, Mr. Elias Assaf.

The methods to ensure the continuation of the subsidy, especially on medicines, wheat and basic commodities, were discussed in the meeting. It was decided to request the concerned ministries to intensify meetings with the Central Bank, aiming to achieve all of the above, within an integrated plan to be drawn for this purpose.​