NOW To refer to the 8.5km long trickle of raw sewage and industrial waste that flows from Hazmieh to Quarantina as a ‘river’ is like referring to roadkill as ‘wildlife’. We’ve all smelt the stomach-churning odour of the river while crossing the Quarantina bridge, so it’s not surprising the serious environmental and health risks it poses. The river is highly polluted with sewage, as well as waste from the Quarantina slaughterhouse and other industrial factories that run along the river’s bank. The public don’t help either, ignorantly dumping their own waste too - we’ve even seen tyres floating along.

FUTURE It’s hard to believe Beirut was once known as a ‘garden city’. But that’s precisely what Philippe Skaff, the debonair president of Lebanon’s Green Party, aims to bring back to life. The party’s Green River project will turn the river into 8.5km of green space - a conservation area filled with parks, nature reserves, cycle-paths, cafés and sport facilities. Creating a green lung in Beirut’s cityscape, the rehabilitation of the space will bring some much- needed social, economic and environmental development to an area which spans seven municipalities. ‘This will be a dream for the Beirutis. Especially when you know 70 per cent of the Lebanese live in the greater Beirut area,’ says Skaff. An electric train is also planned, which will transport locals to the Roman ruins of Beirut Valley (MP for Metn Ghassan Moukhaiber has also recently proposed to parliament to transform the valley into a national park). Although the 10 year deadline may seem ambitious to some, the privatisation of the project means real estate space surrounding the river will be used to generate the initial capital, making it an ideal eco-investment.