The people of Lebanon have heard a lot of conflicting news about the Sannine project lately. Should foreigners own it? Should it be 100 percent Lebanese? How many people will it employ? How many of them will be Lebanese? Will it be a project that will bring tourists to the resort and then returns them to their countries without them passing through other cities and towns in Lebanon? Will the revenue generated from tourists be localized or will it be spread throughout the country? In addition to the various questions, many people think it is just a political struggle between our president and our prime minister. However, everyone is missing the point. The question should be: "Is this project good for Lebanon in the long term?"

It is true that the project will employ people and bring money to Lebanon. However, Sannine is the source of much of our fresh water. Snow on Sannine melts and flows through the soil to replenish our artesian water table. This water is pure and potable because the source is clean. By building a project on mount Sannine, we will pollute this water. Anyone who has driven on a road with snow on the sides realizes how black the snow can get after cars pass next to it. Fumes from combustion, oil from engines and antifreeze from radiators are but a few sources of harmful pollution. In addition to these, leakage from sewers and septic tanks can wreak havoc on our water sources.

Another environmental catastrophe will be the effect the project has on migratory birds. We forget that Lebanon is in the middle of a migration route and those birds fly over mount Sannine. These birds will stop flying over our mountain. They will either change their migratory routes or die. Anyone who hunts will realize that in the areas where he used to wait for birds but are now built up, no birds pass. Furthermore, there are numerous animal and plant species that are indigenous to that area of the world and a project there would destroy them. God gave this planet to all the life he created and made us the watchmen, not the destroyers.

Having said this, I need to ask: "Has an environmental impact assessment been done? Can people have access to information about how it was done and what the results were? Has a group of scientists been given the results of the study and asked their scientific opinion before a decision to build the project was taken? Has the government studied how the proposed project will change bird migration routes? Local fauna and flora populations? The water supply? The aesthetic value of the area?

Finally I ask, "If the project is going to cover 1 percent of Lebanon, should we not have a period of information dissemination followed by a popular vote on the issue?" Our politicians have the privilege of serving our needs but not of destroying nature without even asking our opinion. I hope they try to leave a legacy they can be proud of instead of one that will remind future generations of their mismanagement of a country that was entrusted to them.

Dr. Imad Saoud is an environmentalist at the American University of Beirut