Political unrest threatens Lebanese construction and property sectors
Directors of Lebanese construction and real estate companies fear the political unrest in the country will take its toll on their sectors in the second half of this year. Sales manager and partner Tarek Jallad for Caterpillar, has said he expects projects to be delayed during the second half of 2011 amid ongoing uncertainty over […]
Directors of Lebanese construction and real estate companies fear the political unrest in the country will take its toll on their sectors in the second half of this year.
Sales manager and partner Tarek Jallad for Caterpillar, has said he expects projects to be delayed during the second half of 2011 amid ongoing uncertainty over the regional turmoil as well as the absence of a government in Lebanon.
“No country can function without a government for so long and I am a little bit worried about the spill-over of some of this negativity on us,” he told The Daily Star.
A managing director of Taleb&Co steel contractors has also expressed concern stating that the company has not been strongly affected because it is still operating with old contracts from before the collapse of the Cabinet and if the political situation does not improve in the next few months, the company will suffer a setback.
Although public sector tenders, which have been put on hold with no set restart date, are reportedly inflicting losses on some construction companies in the region Jallad noted the delay in Cabinet formation has not yet had an impact on the construction industry.
Private projects in particular remain unaffected due to a high power equipment demand from real estate projects completed in the first half of this year.
Caterpillar operates in Syria, Jordan and Palestine however Jallad confirms if the second half of the year continues at the same pace, Lebanon will represent a significant part of the company’s business.
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