BEIRUT: The Cabinet meets at the Grand Serail Monday to discuss the remaining items on its agenda left from last week’s session, except for one item which Interior Minister Marwan Charbel had demanded be withdrawn from the agenda.

The item concerns “the rise in the number of illegal buildings in the southern suburbs [of Beirut] and in the Shatila and Bourj al-Barajneh camps and their environs, along with a request to allow the repair of ramshackle buildings that had been previously illegally built.” Charbel has not issued any official statement explaining the reasons.

In a letter he sent to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Charbel demanded the approval of “a mechanism and regulations to control the construction process in the Palestinian camps and ensure a legal basis for it by reducing the main and side entry points in the camps to a specific number and closing unnecessary entrances with cement barricades to allow only pedestrians [to walk into the camps], while forbidding cars and vehicles.”

Charbel’s proposal bans the construction of any building in the camps without a legal license, which permits the entry of construction materials into the specified place. The entry of building materials into the camps should be subject to the approval of the Lebanese government after the Defense Ministry and the Army Command have been consulted.

UNRWA projects inside the camps would be followed up and monitored by the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces, according to Charbel’s proposal.

It urges the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee to explain to the Palestinians that the measures taken are firstly and lastly in their interest.

The dossier on illegal buildings in the Palestinian camps that was referred to the Cabinet and later withdrawn contains a letter from Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn in which he demands that “security agencies be tasked with studying Bourj al-Barajneh’s three main entrances and 16 side entrances and working to retain the three main entrances and five side entrances to allow access to cars and trucks.

The ISF would establish observation posts at the camp’s main and side entrances to control incoming and outgoing cars, trucks and goods. These forces would be backed by army units ready to intervene.”

The file also contains a presentation by the Interior and Defense Ministries citing the reasons behind such proposed measures. Based on reports by security agencies, the presentation said:

“The geographical area of the Shatila camp has widened, covering surrounding lands and buildings. Entering the camp is taking place through several entry points, including alleyways, and a narrow road to allow a small car or vehicle to drive into it,” the presentation related.

“The construction activity inside the camp is taking place in a random manner, failing to meet the [building] conditions at an escalating pace,” it continued. “Residents living in buildings with a few floors are bringing in building materials in order to increase the number of floors or rooms. The rising number of floors and rooms receive the approval of the Popular Committee inside the camp. The committee takes care of the camp’s construction, social and environmental affairs.”

The presentation notes that some of the buildings now have three stories, and were constructed on land that was previously assigned for parking lots.

“Information indicates that the ISF are facing difficulties when their patrols show up to eliminate [building] violations in the mentioned places. These patrols are prevented from doing their job either through the inhabitants’ resistance, or by the security committee, or even armed groups controlling the area.”

“The absence of ISF or Lebanese Army security checkpoints at the camp’s entrance will help the entry of building materials at an accelerating pace without accountability, and also the illegal building inside and around the camp. The camp is home to armed Palestinian organizations equipped with heavy weapons, in addition to dangerous persons, thus posing a danger to public safety.”

“Since the areas surrounding this camp have become vulnerable, any security incident inside the camp is bound to lead to dire consequences.”

According to these reports, “the best solution to deal with the phenomenon of illegal buildings inside the Shatila camp … is by drawing up an action plan in coordination between all state departments, Palestinian organizations and the concerned municipality, and outlining clear and accurate work rules to cope with this problem.”

It remains unknown whether the Interior Ministry’s move Wednesday to establish a police station at the entrance of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the north – part of which has been rebuilt since the army’s assault.