NNA - Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi confirmed Tuesday that the Ministry is exerting great efforts to face the storm, noting that bulldozers are working on opening the main roads and helping the people get to their destinations.


"The citizens must coordinate with us, with the security forces and with the civil defense so as to facilitate our work in keeping them safe, by all available means," he said.


"This storm is extraordinary. The level of rainfall was shocking. Even powerful countries suffer in such cases," he explained, reminding of the weather disasters that engendered material and humane losses in Europe, Russia and the USA.



"What happened was beyond our capacity," he said, refusing to justify any shortage or failure, by any person or state institution, to assume its responsibility at this level, starting with himself as Minister of Public Works.


In this regard, the Minister deemed as necessary to control the construction sector and ban all transgressions. He also noted that some Lebanese areas suffer huge lack of infrastructure.
On a different note, Minister Aridi received at his ministerial office the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Patrice Paoli, with talks featuring high on joint affairs and means to boost cooperation between France and Lebanon.


================D.K.