Beirut, Lebanon - More than five years of the economic crisis, which has allowed inflation to flourish and see the situation in the Lira of Lebanon, the Lebanese government is facing its largest infrastructure project for years: post-war reconstruction.

According to World Bank estimates that after 14 months of the war with Israel, Lebanon needs $11 billion in reconstruction.

However, experts say donors do not trust Lebanese political class, which has a record of summing up construction funds to politically linked merchants.

need

In addition to the deaths of more than 4,000 people, the war has caused huge losses to countries that have been swept from years of economic crises.

About 10% of Lebanon's homes (about 163,000 vehicles) have been damaged or destroyed, and it is impossible to say that the infrastructure has lost more than $100 million.

Most observers and the new government, formed in February, said Lebanon will once again need foreign aid, just as it did after the last war with Israel in 2006.

However, such aid is coming slowly than in 2006, with donor concerns divided between Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and major donors like the United States who have promoted the Hezbollah group's disarmament as a prerequisite.

Hezbollah was until recently the country’s most powerful political and military force, suffering a severe blow during the war, and although many Lebanese continue to support it, it still weakened its power.

The country's southern, eastern and southern suburbs of Beirut bear the brunt of Israel's offensive. Together they are home to most of Hezbollah’s voters, so restoring homes and livelihoods is a priority for the party.

This translates into leverage for foreign donor countries.

question

Politically linked companies have increased the state's major infrastructure buyers (the Commission on Development and Reconstruction (CDR)) by 35% between 2008 and 2018, a 2022 study by local think tanks.

Moreover, the main contract regulations are so popular that only 5% of bidding are under the supervision of the Central Bidding Committee.

Economist and former World Bank adviser Khalil Gebara said the huge explosion at Beirut's port swept through most of the capital and donors' decision to have nothing to do with the state, which is their advice to the Lebanese government, and they do not want anything to do with the state.

“Donors stop transferring funds to national authorities or the Ministry of Finance,” he said, because they “a total lack of trust in the national mechanisms.”

Instead, donors control spending directly or work through trust funds managed by the World Bank or through NGOs, Gaibara added.

That year, the state was working to implement the International Monetary Fund conditions in exchange for a partial bailout, with its physical investment spending only $38 million, down from $1.1 billion in 2018, the year before the economic collapse.

Try a solution

A year later, Lebanon signed a contract with reforms that many consider to be a milestone, one of the few reform laws passed in recent years.

It effectively dragged the entire public sector into a unified framework, abolishing a classification system that freezes contractors without political connections and creates a new regulator - the Public Procurement Administration (PPA).

Public investment continues to decline as state institutions in crisis crisis are incorporated into the new system, reaching $10 million in 2022.

"Procurement will be a big deal ... it is definitely a test for the procurement system and regulators," said Lamia Moubayed, head of the Lebanese Ministry of Finance's internal research and training institute.

Rana Rizkallah, a procurement expert at the same institute, said the law is firm, but the government must implement the work it promises, adding that the key part is equipping regulators.

The PPA should be a board member of five members supported by a team of 83 employees, but three years after the law goes into effect in 2022, it has one member with five employees overseeing 1,400 purchasing agencies.

The complaint committee, developed by four, has not yet been established, so the complaints are still slow and burdensome in Lebanon’s courts.

Jean Ellieh, the regulator's president and sole member, said the state does not have the "logistical capacity" to recruit dozens of regulators, but he made a request for new employees.

“We will be determined and determined regardless of our ability,” Ellieh told Al Jazeera. “We will not give anyone an excuse to evade the application of the law.”

He added that donors expressed "satisfaction" with the PPA's capabilities.

Getting rich connected to wealth

After several years of streamlining, the state must keep its minimum spending to a minimum, and the company remains dominated by large companies that have built enough resources from earlier investments to keep their livelihoods.

Wassim Maktabi, an economist and co-author of cartel behavior in construction contracts in 2022, said ensuring that rebuilding is not another fraudster who is good at connecting is a difficult task.

"Don't worry, these political elites won't let this slip," he said.

Furthermore, years of high-value contracts mean that companies with political connections have accumulated capital in most aspects, larger and more experienced than competitors.

"Even if political influence is not a factor, you award these contracts purely based on merit," he said, "these companies "will still get a big part of the pie."

In any case, reconstruction is too important to stall in the pursuit of perfection, Maktabi said.

Al Jazeera has identified 152 reconstruction contracts through the PPA’s online portal, totaling more than $30 million. Among the top four contract winners in the US dollar, two have political links mentioned in media reports.

The top four companies, Beta Engineering and Contracts, Elie Naim Maalouf, Al Bonyan Engineering and Contracts, and Yamen General Trading and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting and Contranting, respectively, won contracts of $10.6 million, $4.7 million, $1.8 million and $1.4 million, respectively, accounting for 60% of the total amount awarded by the PPA contract.

Promote the credibility of reformism

The new government is negotiation With the World Bank developing a $980 million plan, called LEAP, to initiate reconstruction and fund it through World Bank loans and foreign aid.

However, LEAP can only take care of a small part of the total reconstruction cost.

The government has also begun hiring new faces from long-standing power regulation committees and CDR committees.

Moubayed said refreshing the CDR board was a requirement for the World Bank to approve LEAP, which would be a crucial victory for governments striving to gain the credibility of reformists.

The World Bank declined to comment on whether the CDR board needs to be refreshed.

It is unclear how the program was structured, but the government has recognized the creation of a trust fund for post-war reconstruction, “characterized by transparency.”

But Beirut residents are unhappy with the public works studio architect and urbanist Abir Saksouk, who said Beirut residents are displeased with a similar pattern of the port explosion reconstruction in 2020.

She said the lack of equity among residents is calling this experience that should not be repeated based on the organization taking over maintenance in each area.

She is one of many calls for inclusion reconstruction processes through participation by all stakeholders, including those suffering damages, and those involved in the relevant sectors, as they are an important part of the process.

“We need a reconstruction framework with a national institution present…but we also need other representatives,” she said.