BEIRUT, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Parliament member Hikmat Deeb on Tuesday criticized the Ministry of Public Works for its plan to fill Port of Beirut's Basin 4, citing corruption, local media reported.
"We will not accept to go on with this project. We are totally against it, and we will stop it like we did before," Deeb was quoted by the online newspaper Al Markazia as saying.
The plan to fill the port's fourth basin is the second phase of a bigger project to create more space for container storage at the port.
However, Deeb believes that this project is tainted with corruption.
"The project costs 30 million U.S. dollars, but Minister of Public Works Youssef Fenianos presented a study for the project at the value of 270 million dollars while in the past, Former Minister of Public Works Ghazi Aridi said it costs 130 million dollars," Deeb said.
Deeb said there is no need to fill the basin to create a terminal for containers.
"I have detailed maps that show and prove that there is enough place for containers," he said.
Meanwhile, the plan to fill Basin 4 raised concerns among truckers and port workers in the past about the possibility of losing their jobs.
Despite the assurance that the new terminal will accept both containers and general cargo, port workers are convinced the project will put them out of a job.
