Parliament’s Public Works, Transportation, Energy and Water Committee Tuesday endorsed more than half a billion dollars in loans and grants for infrastructure development projects across Lebanon. The Committee endorsed $34 million in loans for wastewater treatment in the Qadisha Valley from the French Development Agency, and $187 million in loans for upgrading main roads in north Lebanon and Kesrouan’s Jeita and Zouk Mosbeh from the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development.

 It also endorsed a $295 million loan and $69,800 grant from the World Bank for the Greater Beirut Public Transport Project, which aims to connect Tabarja to Karantina by bus and also create lines within Beirut. The World Bank has said the public transport system is expected to carry about 300,000 passengers daily and halve the commute time between Beirut and its northern suburbs. It is the first stage of a national public transport program, which in its next phases seeks to connect Beirut to its eastern and southern suburbs.