“Since 1994, when we moved to the market, we did not have access to bathrooms, nor water”, a 50-year-old man said with a jolt. A young trio jokingly added, “what was a market for us was worse than any market”. Sellers in the Baalbeck market for vegetables explained their harsh situation, and the unpleasant circumstances in the market. Mahmoud Al-Khatib, another vegetable vendor, stated, “the market was suffering from a shortage of everything and it needs rehabilitation and restoration at all levels”. It was just a bunch of vegetable stands, until the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST), in cooperation with World Food Programme (WFP) rehabilitated and improved the entire market.
As soon as one enters the Baalbeck vegetable market today, a beehive of workers is seen. The vegetable market lacked a lot of water, sewage, sidewalks, parking lots for customers and vendors, and gates on the entrances. Thanks to LOST, the market now has the necessary sanitation, eight bathrooms, clean water extension, and parking. On the aesthetic level, trees were planted along the fence, sidewalks were built, benches were installed, and gates were built on the main entrance. In addition, LOST supplied the market with 25 waste containers to deal with the waste crisis that was accumulating alongside fruit and vegetable boxes.
In addition to improving the market and securing the necessary facilities for the sellers, this project aims to maintain the safety of food products sold to the people of Baalbeck and its environs. Food pollution is one of the main causes of cancer, therefore, maintaining the sanitation of food products is very critical.
Lebanese NGO, NGO,
