By Simona Sikimic
Daily Star staff
Thursday, April 07, 2011
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NAHR AL-BARED: There are only a few weeks left before the first handful of Palestinian families from the Nahr al-Bared camp will be allowed to return to their newly reconstructed homes.
The final touches are being put in place, with doors, kitchens and bathrooms predominantly fitted, and the smell of fresh paint detectable in the air.
“We are totally determined and adamant that some of these homes will be finished this month,” said Charlie Higgins, the project director of Nahr al-Bared for the United Nations Relief and Work Agency in charge of reconstructing the camp.
The initial handover has been delayed several times but finally looks on track at least for 108 lucky families, representing a tiny proportion of the approximately 27,000 Nahr al-Bared residents who have been living dispersed in temporary accommodation for almost four years.
“I can see fully see that there has been some progress and I see that there is hope,” said Czech Ambassador to Lebanon Jan Cizek, who has visited the camp five times during the long reconstruction process.
“I can see that this is in your hearts and I see that you now believe more in this project, whereas before there were questions about whether the camp was going to be rebuilt,” he said, addressing a group of Nahr al-Bared residents.
Cizek is part of an EU member state delegation, headed by EU Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, which visited the camp Tuesday to inspect the progress.
The European Union has been a major contributor to the reconstruction, sinking some $43 million into the project, but while their funds have been instrumental in helping UNRWA reach the initial handover stage, much more remains to be done.
Only some 36 percent of the project has been financed to date, with money available for Blocks one through three, with the remaining five sections, still unfunded and potentially years from breaking ground.
“Our situation is very bad and we need to return to our homes,” said Nawal, an elderly Palestinian woman living in temporary shelters with her daughter’s family.
“We ask that you speed up the reconstruction. It is our right to return to our homes, where we live now is not suitable for our health and psychological state.
“It is very tough for our children. My 12-year-old granddaughter cannot study,” she added.
The once-thriving camp, considered one of the wealthiest in Lebanon, was utterly destroyed in early summer 2007 when fierce fighting broke out between the Lebanese Army and Islamist extremist group Fatah al-Islam.
The conflict forced residents to flee with only the most basic of possessions and take refuge in either the neighboring Beddawi camp or in one of the UNRWA purpose-built temporary shelters.
The arrangements have been the source of much anxiety, with residents subjected to chronic overcrowding, poor sanitation and excruciating heat in the summer as well as bitter cold in the winter months.
“We have snakes and rats in our home,” said another female refugee, who did not want to give her name. “We have just three rooms for 12 people. There is no privacy, which causes much tension.” she added. “The children fight about where to study and the relations between husbands and wives are difficult.”
Other refugees have been housed in costly private accommodation, which has thus far been paid for by UNRWA cash rent subsidies, totaling between $16 million and $18 million a year.
However, with the organization fast running out of money for Nahr al-Bared and donors slow to deliver on cash pledges, rumors are circulating within the Palestinian community that the latest round of rent subsidies may be the last.
“We recognize that you still have very many needs that still need to be fulfilled,” Eichhorst said.
“We will go and try and make the case that the support continues from the EU and other donors.”
While it is hoped that the upcoming handover will reignite interest and show that the daunting process of rebuilding is possible, once lively donor involvement has waned in recent years, with the wealthier Arab countries particularly criticized for not doing enough.
The only viable solution rests with allowing camp residents to rebuild their own economy.
“When the reconstruction will be finished our problems will be finished,” said Nasser Jord, the chairman of the Palestinian Committee for Public Work. “But this will only happen with sufficient funds and until we get these funds there will be social problems, like unemployment.”
Small shoots of recovery are beginning to emerge and a long line of shops leading to the camp, which were overwhelmingly deserted a few months ago have started to reopen.
However, with many businesses destroyed in the fighting and with the adjacent area to the camp remaining under military control, unemployment continues to be rampant.
Until the final obstacles to reconstruction can be removed and the camp fully rebuilt, the recent achievement, which is a truly impressive feat, will remain largely symbolic.
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