Beirut blast: payment hold-up delays removal of chemicals from port

Lebanese government contracted to pay $2 million to German company

An aerial view of Beirut port on August 5, 2020 shows the damage caused by an explosion of ammonium nitrate a day earlier. AFP

A payment hold-up is delaying the work of a German company clearing Beirut's port of dangerous chemicals after a deadly explosion of ammonium nitrate last August, port director Bassem Al Kaissi told The National on Friday.

"The Lebanese government is ready to open the letter of credit but there is a minor clarification [to be made]", Mr Al Kaissi said. "I cannot tell you what the condition is because it is still under negotiation."

Heavy lift transport company Combi Lift signed a contract with Lebanese authorities in November to clear Beirut’s port of hazardous substances, three months after a poorly stored stock of ammonium nitrate exploded and killed more than 200 people.

Combi Lift finished its work last month and the substances were sealed in special containers. The company planned to ship them to Germany for treatment by the end of February.

The clean-up effort cost $3.6 million, of which the Lebanese government must pay $2 million. Combi Lift is bearing the remaining cost, Mr Al Kaissi said.

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In an email to The National, Combi Lift confirmed on Friday that it was still waiting for the "first payment", without clarifying further. "Please understand that we do not want to comment further on that topic," wrote head of marketing Malte Steinhoff.

The company told AFP last month that it treated containers of acetone and hydrogen peroxide that if mixed together, could have caused another explosion.

"The port is lucky, because the containers have a distance" between them, said Michael Wentler, a chemical expert managing Combi Lift's Beirut operation.

Mr Al Kaissi said that in total, Combi Lift had treated 59 containers, seven more than the German Ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas Kindl, mentioned in a tweet on February 6.

Mr Kindl wrote that Combi Lift had treated “52 containers of hazardous and dangerous chemical materials that had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut.”

The German embassy could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Mr Al Kaissi said that negotiations with Combi Lift over payment should be over by Monday. "There is no hesitancy, there is no rejection, there is no delay from the Lebanese government," he said.
Lebanon is suffering from its worst economic crisis, which is being aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Al Kaissi said that Combi Lift had checked the entire port for chemical substances. “Nothing is 100 per cent definite, but I can assure you that 95 per cent [of the port’s dangerous chemicals] have been taken care of. But nobody knows what might show up in the future,” he said.