Collective Action
Families of Beirut blast victims and opposition MPs stage a sit-in near the port to protest government inaction on grain silo fires
Opposition MPs and relatives of the victims of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port blast on Sunday held a sit-in near the Beirut port to protest government inaction to quell weekslong fires at the port’s grain silos. MP Najat Aoun Saliba denounced the measures undertaken by the government as “disappointing” and called for an urgent meeting grouping “the concerned ministers, the Civil Defense and the army” along with a plan to stop the fires blazing at the port grain silos since early July and “inform the Lebanese of the truth. The repeated fires are a source of worry for the area’s inhabitants,” Saliba added, warning that they constituted “hazards and [had] harmful effects.” The silos have repeatedly caught fire since early July, reportedly due to the combination of fermented grains and summer heat. The structures, which were damaged during the explosion, have been considered symbolic by members of civil society and the relatives of the blast victims.