Home  Opinion LL1 for $1 |
|
LL1 for $1 |
|
|
Written by Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor
|
Church bells radiated joy and mosques' minarets breathed tranquility over the city.
Mar. 23, 2007- First persson Khalaf Ahmad
Stepping into Beirut Airport, my soul was overwhelmed by a feeling of joy that I used to feel every time my plane approached Dubai Airport. Aspects of buoyancy and dynamism were abundant in every corner of the place named after the person who was the driving power behind it, the late former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Activity in Beirut Airport never subsides. Large numbers of airplanes were taking off while others were landing with businessmen, investors and visitors from all walks of life.
Airport authorities could hardly accommodate the sheer volumes of visa applications. Professionals and tradesmen of all skills were queuing to obtain their entry visas after presenting their employment contracts. Lebanon started recruiting foreign skills recently to support expanding development.
The airport terminals were full of tourists heading for Lebanon from Japan in the east to Brazil in the west.
I left the airport for the booming city. I tried to make a reservation at any one of the city's many hotels, but no luck. Every single hotel room in the city was occupied. I therefore went to hang around in the city's streets.
Buses of all sizes and colors were touring Beirut. Their loud music filled the air recently cleansed with spring rain.
Young tour guides in their pretty coaches were taking tourists through Beirut's streets and explaining to them the city's history, which went back many thousands of years.
Downtown Beirut was crowded with Arab and foreign visitors. The flow of pedestrians never stopped. Stores were full of shoppers. Haute-couture businesses were no less vibrant than those of the West. Bestsellers were lined up on bookshop shelves.
Auto showrooms glittered with the latest European, American and Japanese models. Cafes and restaurants toiled to accommodate large numbers of diners.
Beirut hardly could provide sufficient place for its lovers and guests. Hotels were fully booked for months to come, if not a year, and tourists had problems in finding a place to rest.
Traditional weddings were seen everywhere, as if the whole country was celebrating, as if there was no place for sadness.
Tourism and real-estate development swept over uncultivated lands. The city was open for its lovers. It was almost the twin of Dubai, the Arab hub, where booming business activities and culture were unprecedented.
International insurance companies, news and press agencies, art production houses raced to find a place under Lebanon's sunny sky.
Church bells radiated joy and mosques' minarets breathed tranquility over the city.
Roses and flowers adorned public squares and balconies. Gardens imported trees from the best producers in the world. A cosmopolitan country where strange mix of nationalities and faces flooded the place. Everyone wanted establish business in a booming country.
In spite of its heavy production, Lebanon's yield of fruits was no longer sufficient to meet rocketing demand. Ports were absorbing sheer volumes of fruit shipments from around the world to meet local demand.
There was no further empty land for new developments. Lebanese were selling even the air in their homes.
Security was intact in the tiny country. There were no checkpoints, not even traffic police.
Lovely girls were smoothing the increasing traffic triggered by economic boom.
I was bewildered by the situation of affluence that wrapped the whole country. Am I in Dubai or Lebanon?
Even Lebanon's Lira rocketed recently. 1 LL was almost traded for more than 1 US $.
However, at the height of the experience, happily observing Lebanon's welbeing, I woke up. The lovely dream came to an end. I went back to the far different reality of Lebanon.
Oh, what a pretty dream. I wanted to surrender again for sleep. I wanted to relive Lebanon the dream, to regain my happiness with the beautiful country, even through dreams, I did not mind.
By Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor
Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor is the chairman of Al-Habtoor Group.
|
|
|
Madness takes over Lebanon.
Militants are fighting in the streets of Beirut. Military guns are on both sides. What is the prospect of such a situation. Aren't the Lebanese fed-up with wars?
23 November 2007
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud left the Baabda presidential palace without handing over the power to a new president. This is the first time since independence in 1943. |
advertisements
|
