World Bank, UN grant 10 mln USD to mitigate impacts of Beirut port blasts

BEIRUT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A new 10 million U.S. dollars grant will help Lebanon mitigate the environmental and health impacts of the Beirut port explosions on the neighboring population and support Beirut's reconstruction, the United Nations said in a statement on Wednesday.

The grant, given through the Beirut Critical Environment Recovery, Restoration and Waste Management Program, was agreed on Wednesday between the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the presence of Lebanon's Environment Minister Nasser Yassin.

"This project will implement environmental recovery activities in the city of Beirut to mitigate risks of a solid waste crisis and other environmental impacts which resulted from the Port of Beirut explosion," said Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank Mashreq Regional Director.

For her part, Melanie Hauenstein, UNDP Resident Representative, said that addressing the impacts of the port explosion on the environment and people's health is of the utmost importance.

According to an assessment, physical damages to the Lebanese environment sector were about 20 to 25 million U.S. dollars and the recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at 75 to 100 million dollars.