Shehade: Priority is for those without shelter, and we will complete the displaced file

The Minister of the Displaced, Kamal Shahada, visited the Hariri residential complex in the Qobbeh area of Tripoli and held a meeting at the Displaced Fund center, attended by the Acting Governor of the North, Iman al-Rafei, the Mayor of Tripoli, Abdel Hamid Karimeh, the Head of the Engineers Syndicate, Shawki Fattouh, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Displaced Fund, Brigadier General Nicolas al-Haber, members of the Board of Directors, and the Assistant Commander of the Northern Regional District of the Internal Security Forces, Colonel Ibrahim Rashid. The staff of the Displaced Fund office in the city of Tripoli also attended.

In a press statement, he indicated: "First, I want to thank the Governor of the North, the Mayor of Tripoli, the Head of the Engineers Syndicate, the Internal Security Forces, and especially Brigadier General Nicolas al-Haber, the General Director, the Board of Directors of the Fund, and all those present. We all considered, and still consider, this project to be exemplary. It helped solve a major problem in several stages and at different levels. It provided housing and enabled a large number of people to own property and have a roof over their heads. As has become known, the state undertook this project and created an opportunity that empowered people. It is necessary for the state to benefit from these experiences and from the lesson as well, so that we can replicate them in other areas in Tripoli and in various regions. This is urgently needed and on a larger scale."

He added: "I would like to thank those responsible who carried out this project and to emphasize this project as a model. Of course, we will work to solve the problems that arose from the successive stages of war in this region. They are not intractable problems. There are occupied housing units, and the Ministry and the Fund have been cooperating together to find solutions for such cases and for evictions. This is not the first time we have done so. There must be seriousness in dealing with this file. There are also violations and there are ways to address them, meaning that the wolf should not die nor the sheep perish. We must find another opportunity and a way for people to benefit and also carry out their work. Perhaps we need in this regard to reconsider some matters, whether through legislation or through other frameworks. We will think of solutions and what the Fund will propose on this subject to present to the Council of Ministers and secure the necessary support for it."

He pointed out that "this project is located in a line of contact area, where the region has witnessed wars in successive periods in the history of this city. In my opinion, this gives us hope. Several years ago, there was war here in this very place, clashes and confrontations. Now the opportunity is available for people to return to living together. This is a positive thing and a model for the country in general. We must benefit from this experience and repeat the experience of building a residential complex, and also benefit from the mistakes, logistical mistakes, and also the mistakes of the past."

Regarding whether the government is actually capable of closing the displaced file as announced, he said: "Of course, I announced the matter from the first day, and this is what we agreed upon in the Council of Ministers. For 20 years, ministers responsible for displaced affairs have succeeded one another, announcing the intention to close the displaced file and close the ministry. Yes, the intention is available to close all files. But there is a reality. There is a large part of Lebanon where people do not have a roof over their heads. There are displaced persons from the south, from the Bekaa, and part of Beirut. These are a priority. The displaced person may own another place to live in, but he is not a priority for the government compared to the displaced family that has no roof over its head. Perhaps this talk is unpopular, but this is the reality, and these are my convictions, and priorities must be built on this. At the first opportunity, we will complete the displaced file, and every rightful claimant will receive his right. This does not mean that the ministry must continue. The ministry's work is finished. The files have been studied, and these files exist. Whoever has a right, his right is preserved. We have preserved all files digitally. The files will not be lost; they remain in more than one place and will always be available, whether for the Fund or for any team that will take them over, whether in the Fund or in the Council of Ministers. The matter is a trust on our shoulders and a trust on the neck of everyone who has handled this file. No displaced person's right will be lost, and I will not allow that to happen."