Lebanese organisation lights up Beirut neighborhoods

Record ID: 1675213

  • Title: Lebanese organisation lights up Beirut neighborhoods
  • Date: 1st June 2022
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (MAY 27, 2022) (REUTERS) WORKER FROM 'REBIRTH BEIRUT', A LEBANESE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION, WORKING ON NEWLY-INSTALLED SOLAR PANELS ON A TRAFFIC LIGHT WORKER BROUGHT DOWN AFTER INSTALLING SOLAR PANELS ON A TRAFFIC LIGHT WORKER WORKING ON ELECTRICITY GRID VARIOUS OF WORKER FROM 'REBIRTH BEIRUT' FIXING TRAFFIC LIGHT TRAFFIC PASSING BY RED TRAFFIC LIGHT (
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2022 14:59
  • Keywords: Beirut Lebanon crisis electricity power safety street lights
  • Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Middle East,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA001197901062022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A non-governmental organisation in Lebanon is taking it upon itself to try and bring life back to Beirut by powering traffic lights and street lamps, amid the government’s failure to solve acute electricity shortages that have left the city in traffic chaos and in the dark for most of the nights.
    'Rebirth Beirut' was founded in 2020 following the massive Beirut port explosion, and has since been working on helping the capital’s residents through initiatives on the ground.
    The local organisation has already installed a dozen of solar panels on traffic lights in Beirut neighborhoods, especially in areas most affected by the 2020 Beirut port blast.
    It has also recently launched an initiative to light busy streets known for their nightlife scene - by collaborating with a petroleum company to give discounts for private generators who power street lamps around them.
    Founder and president of 'Rebirth Beirut' explained the ideas behind those lighting projects came from the realization of how dangerous it is to drive or walk in Beirut at night.
    “All together, hand in hand, we are able to succeed in this initiative of lighting up Beirut again. If we want to wait for the government, we might wait a long time and the idea is to light up Beirut again. Beirut is sad, Beirut has shut down so if we, the local community and the private sector, are able to light our city, we shouldn’t wait, we should light it up ourselves," Fernaine said.
    And while dark still prevails in many streets in Beirut and Lebanon, citizens noticed an increase in bustle and commotion in the areas 'Rebirth Beirut' has lit up.
    Maria al-Sammak described it as a "real rebirth" for the neighborhood, and said she feels much safer now that the main street of Gemmayze, a popular pub street frequented by Lebanese youth, is illuminated.
    “I was honestly scared of walking on the street because one couldn’t see and you didn’t feel like you were in a safe environment. Even as women, obviously it’s always more of a challenge, a bigger challenge, because there is a risk of getting assaulted. Of course, now that there are lights, you feel that it is safer, and at the same time you feel like it is more alive," Sammak said.
    Another initiative 'Rebirth Beirut' works on is called “cover up a pothole” whereby sponsors would fund the repair of a chosen number of potholes across Beirut in an attempt to improve the dilapidated state of the city’s streets.
    (Production: Mohamed Azakir, Maria Semerdjian, Yara Abi Nader, Maya Saad)
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