Lebanon Awards CMA CGM Contract for Beirut Port Container Terminal

A fisherman travels on a boat in front of a CMA CGM container ship passing through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A fisherman travels on a boat in front of a CMA CGM container ship passing through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Lebanon Awards CMA CGM Contract for Beirut Port Container Terminal

A fisherman travels on a boat in front of a CMA CGM container ship passing through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A fisherman travels on a boat in front of a CMA CGM container ship passing through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Lebanon has awarded France's CMA CGM (CMACG.UL) a contract for the management, operation and maintenance of the container terminal in the port of Beirut for 10 years, Public Works and Transport minister Ali Hamie told Reuters on Thursday.

A huge explosion at the port in 2020 killed more than 200 people and damaged entire neighborhoods, deepening Lebanon's worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

"The contract includes $33 mln that will be paid by CMA CGM to develop the work inside the port," the minister said, without revealing more details about the contract terms.

CMA CGM is controlled by the French-Lebanese Saade family and the group joined French President Emmanuel Macron in relief efforts in Beirut following the explosion.



WHO Aims to Begin 2nd Phase of Polio Campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14

A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
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WHO Aims to Begin 2nd Phase of Polio Campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14

A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

A World Health Organization official on Friday said the organization has sent a request to Israel to begin the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza from Oct. 14.

"We have asked the Israeli authorities to consider a similar scheme that we had for the first round, something they call 'tactical pauses' (in fighting) during the working hours of the campaign," said Ayadil Saparbekov, WHO lead for emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territory, Reuters reported.

He said negotiations were ongoing and that a meeting with Israeli authorities about the next phase of the campaign was planned for Sunday.