Ashrafieh building resist evacuation

Residents of a nearly century-old building in Beirut neighboring the seven-story structure that collapsed in January are refusing an evacuation order after an engineering firm concluded that the structure was not safe. One of the Antakli building’s owners asked an engineering firm to investigate the safety of the building after a nearby building collapsed two months ago, killing 27 people and injuring 12 others. After taking samples from the five-story building and conducting tests, the Sanaa Engineering Company filed a report to the owners, concluding that the building requires immediate and intensive renovation works, and that residents must evacuate to avoid risking their lives. The report, obtained by The Daily Star from one of the building’s owners, points to dangerous cracks in the structure’s foundation stones. But residents of the building, which stands just two buildings from the one that collapsed, say they do not trust the owners’ report, and suggest that it could have been manipulated to be used as pretext to evict them from the building, where many have lived for decades. The Antakli building residents, many of whom signed rental contracts with the owners prior to the Civil War and now still pay as little as $200 per year in rent fees, fear that the prospect of evacuation could strip them of their rights to receive compensation from the Higher Relief Committee. Speaking to The Daily Star Friday, residents said that the owners do not want to pay them compensation for leaving their apartments after living in them for more than four decades. When members of the Internal Security Forces and Beirut Municipality officials arrived at the building Thursday to carry out the evacuation of the building, most residents – apart from those renting under new contracts – refused to leave, and decided to hire a second engineering company to carry out a new study into the building’s safety. Owners are not expected to pay compensation to tenants who are under new contracts if they are forced to leave, but long-term residents expect compensation if they are evicted. “This land is worth millions of dollars and they want us to evacuate our houses without receiving any compensation ... we will not leave until another report comes up with the same conclusion,” said one of the building’s tenants, who asked not to be identified. But Ghassan Mneimer, one of the owners, said he would pay whatever he is asked to pay by the judiciary. “I am not going to do anything in violation of the law ... I will pay everything that is asked from me by the law,” said Mneimer, who also lives in the Antakli building. Mneimer said the report contains solid information that the building is in danger of collapse and tenants should evacuate the building to avoid another tragedy in the neighborhood. Shortly after the collapse of the building in January, its owners, Michel and Claude Saadeh, were charged with causing the deaths of 27 people. Mneimer, who said he had paid over $3,000 for the study on the building’s safety, said that the building’s condition “is an alarm bell that should be heeded by everyone.” When asked whether it would be possible to carry out renovation of the building, Mneimer said he was unable to afford it, because it would cost more than the construction of a new building. In an attempt to stop the evacuation, tenants of the Antakli building visited Beirut Governor Nassif Qaloush Thursday and urged him to give them time to carry out a second study, which, according to the residents, could contradict the owners’ study. Elene Qordahi, one of the building’s tenants, said she would wait for the results of the second study, which tenants will pay for. “If the second report tells us that the building is unsafe, we will be forced to leave,” said Qordahi. “All that the owner wants is for us to leave without receiving our compensation ... but we will not leave our homes without getting compensation.”