Tourism Ministry denies obstructing pub and
restaurant permits
‘Beirut municipality is the biggest obstacle,’ says minister’s aide
‘No solution exists to the main 2 problems concerning parking and
building’ Badih Chayban
Daily Star staff
Claims that the Tourism Ministry is obstructing pubs and
restaurant owners from receiving official operating permits were denied vigorously by the
ministry Thursday.
A ministry official briefing around 60 pub and restaurant owners stated that the
requirements of the law and the demands of some municipalities have merely complicated
the procedure.
“We are not asking for the impossible; we are just following laws, even if those laws
are not fair,” said Rania Abdel-Samad, speaking on behalf of the tourism minister in
a gathering held for pub and restaurant owners.
She clarified to the participants the means by which legal documents and operating permits
are granted so as to avoid problems with relevant authorities that could have a possible
effect on the whole tourism sector.
Her remarks came several weeks after a judiciary decision ordered the closure of 47 pubs
and restaurants in Monnot for operating without the necessary permits.
Abdel-Samad maintained that the ministry was not the only authority responsible for
granting operating permits and said that the ministry’s requirements “were not
impossible to achieve,” even though what the municipalities and the Urban Planning
Department are
demanding “is really hard
to accomplish.”
According to statute law, municipalities must approve the granting of permits to an
establishment with a minimum of one parking spot for each 30 square meters it occupies.
The law also prohibits the licensing of a pub or restaurant if the premise is deemed to
constitute part of a building already violating this law, “which is the case for 90
percent of the buildings in this area,” said Abdel-Samad.
“Beirut’s municipality is the biggest obstacle,” she said. The ministry can
only approve permits for pubs and restaurants if the required parking spaces were rented
from a nearby secure parking facility. However, even in these cases the municipality did
not grant permits and instead demanded a payment of corresponding fees of LL25 million for
each parking spot.
Pub and restaurant owners were not satisfied by Abdel-Samad’s presentation and
countered that they are aware of the problems of the current situation and that they were
expecting the ministry to
provide solutions.
Farid Rahme, owner of Salute pub in Monnot, told The Daily Star that Abdel-Samad “was
saying nothing new.”
“We know what the problem is, but we were hoping that the Tourism Ministry would work
on changing that, and not remind us of what we already know,” Rahme said angrily.
Paul Aris, who heads the Association of Lebanese Restaurants, Cafes, Pastry Shops and
Nightclub Owners, said “no solution to the main two problems concerning parking and
buildings exist the law needs to be amended.”
“A group of lawyers specializing in tourism must prepare new draft laws. The
association, along with the Tourism Ministry and concerned authorities, were planning to
establish a committee to discuss the introduction of pertinent amendments to the existing
law,” Aris said.
Aris also stated that the association had already met with Baalbek-Hermel MP Hussein Hajj
Hassan, who is the head of Parliament’s Tourism Committee. He added that Hajj Hassan
was now waiting for a draft law from the association to settle the pubs and
restaurants’ dilemma for good.
Aris added that Hajj Hassan told him that the last time Tourism Minister Karam Karam
submitted a draft law on this issue was two years ago.
Karam had already issued a decision two weeks ago, stating that pubs and restaurants in
Monnot will be given a two-month deadline to settle their legal status and obtain their
required operating licenses.
Aris also urged Karam to extend the deadline and let the law be amended before allowing
any establishment to close.
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