I'm totally against this project. To my knowledge, there are a bunch of ugly nouveau-riche looking, style-lacking development projects around Beirut recently, and I'm against most of them because:
1- the residents of the areas where these projects are being built have not been taken into account. no one has asked (or in fact ever asks) the neighbors in Lebanon before building something to distort the view they enjoyed for years. What about the locals? don't they mind?
2- I'm sure that building this thing, the environment will be affected negatively. After all, the people who are going to live on it will directly pollute the sea... for instance: where will the sewage go? (again, in Leb.. most of the time it goes straight to sea), what about these ppl throwing stuff in the sea?
3- it is U.G.L.Y and inconsistent with the environment of any region in Lebanon, the culture, the style.
we are not a desert that builds tower to be noticeable... we have a very special environment, climate, beaches, old building style that we should preserve instead of building eye-raping expensive projects that attempt to be modern but instead end up distorting modernization to ugliness.
4- what's in in for the Lebanese, really? people from the gulf are going to develop it, build it, live on it, and probably employ Indians to work for them, just like in Dubai. I really don't see how it creates 50,000 jobs for the Lebanese.
5- did I mention it's ugly and rapes our culture and shows that the Arabs would like to turn us into Dubai? since when is dubai something to follow aesthetically? if they have bad taste... then why do we let them practice it on our territory?
6- also, it's a big Arab statement saying "we don't care that you don't have any more space for us in Beirut, and that you really don't like us deep down.. but we don't care. we can buy our way out of it by building an island on your territory where we can live and take advantage of your climate and more lenient rules, and you will approve because we will shape it like a cedar".
At least, it's the message I get from it.
7- before going off with extravagant nouveau-riche taste projects that will not benefit the poorer class in our country, and may I note we have a pretty high unemployment rate there... we should take care of creating jobs, living spaces and opportunities there.
ever thought and contemplated about the social gaps in Lebanon? if they increase more we're surely going to head towards another political standstill and people will be unhappy and would want to protest.
let's pretend you're living in a wooden-like shack on the coast of 2ouza3i or anywhere towards Damour and u see this thing rising in front of u.. how would u feel? what would u do?
8- whomever said it attracts tourists is wrong. it will attract rich residents from the gulf, maybe... but tourists? tourists come to Lebanon for other reasons such as historical site seeing, nightlife, eco-tourism, cultural experience and so on.. not to sit in the middle of sea industrialism 
FPM SHOULD TAKE A STAND AGAINST THIS PROJECT
28th January 2009
