Achour denies ownership
of Lycée Abdel Kader school

Beirut Municipality did not

issue demolition or sale permit

“Achour Holding is not the new owner of Lycée Abdel Kader and does not intend to become so,” said Manar Jaber, Sales Manager and spokesperson at Achour Development.

Media outlets reported that Achour Holding bought Lycée Abdel Kader, located near the Patriarchate area in Mar Elias, with the intention of demolishing the property and building a mall in its place. There were additional reports that Lycée Abdel Kader has rented the premises of Collège des Pères Antonins in Baabda for the coming 27 years.

“Achour Development is not interested in the property and we are not specialized in developing malls,” Jaber said.

The Municipality of Beirut dismissed such rumors. “We have not received an application for the acquisition of a permit for the demolition or purchase of this property,” said Jamal Itani, Chairman of the Municipality.

Itani said that the municipality will do its best to prevent the demolition of the educational edifice, especially if one of its buildings is listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.

Imad Al Achkar, head of the private education authority at the Ministry of Education, ruled out the possibility of moving the school to Baabda “because we will not allow the firing of teachers and moving of students to another school.”