A Brief History On The Development of MoE ‘s Organigram…

On 2 April, 1993, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) was first established by the enactment of the Law No. 216. Thanks to the efforts of H.E. the Minister of State for Environmental Affairs & Social Security at the time, H.E. Mr. Jack Tchou-khadarian, who with his professional team drafted this law.
On 30 August, 1994, thus after 16 months the decree No. 5591 was issued, which organized the different departments of the MoE. Special consideration was given H.E. Mr. Samir Mokbel, the first Minister of Environment at the time, to issue this decree and give MoE a significant push to carry its mandate and try to become more effective.
On 29 December, 1997, thus after 40 months the law N. 667 was enacted, which altered the administrative structure of the MoE. The law had no clear “raison d’etre” and no draft regulations were prepared to complement the newly enacted law, which left the Ministry limping administratively for a considerable period of time.
On 07 August, 2000, thus after 32 months the whole public administration was re-engineered and restructured by the Law No. 247. Thanks to the determination of H.E. Mr. Arthur Nazarian, the Minister of Environment at the time, who with the unconditional support and conviction of the President of the Republic, H.E. General Emile Lahoud, MoE stood strong and stayed as an independent Ministry. This was translated through the decision of the Council of Ministers No. 38 dated 11 Sept. 1999, while the general counter motion was to instate MoE as a directorate within one of the related Ministries.
On 25 August, 2005, thus after 60 months, the current progressive administrative structure of MoE came to life due to the strenuous efforts exerted by x-Minister of Environment, H.E. Mr. Yacoub Riad Sarraf, who convinced The Parliament of the importance of the enactment of this law No. 690, which had its draft complimentary decree prepared in tandem by an internal committee established at MoE by decision 43/1 dated 10 June 2000.
On 15 June, 2009, thus after 46 long months, decree No. 2275 was issued. It aims at organising the administrative units of the MoE and specifies in detail their mandate… This would not have been possible without the commitment and belief of H.E. Dr. Tony Karam, the Minister of Environment at the time, who with pure wizardry managed to persuade the Council of Ministers of its importance for the life of MoE.
All in all, it took 17 years (nearly 204 months), for MoE to have a well-founded, clear and progressive legal administrative structure to launch its operations from, and be able to watch over and safeguard the richest and most precious national capital and that is “the environmental commons”.
Building institutes is a very long and rough road, but once driven, vehicles need to be fueled with passion, patience, persistence and perseverance to be able to keep continuing on. The end product portrayed is the attached organi-gram prepared by Ms. Patty Farah, GIS Specialist, Dept. of Information Technology and elegantly designed by Ms. Joumana Samaha, Graphic Designer, NoU-MoE. Hope this short story gives everyone a perspective on how institutions are “built-to-last” with a mission fueled by will and vision for change… The mission is a noble and a never ending duty…
Truly yours, Berj Hatjian
Director General
Directorate General of Environment
Ministry of Environment
Lazarieh Centre Beirut Central District, 6 March, 2017