Under the patronage and with the attendance of the Minister of Tourism, Michel Pharaon, the President of "Indeed Better Together" Association, Violette Al Safadi, announced in a press conference held at Yacht Club -ZeitounaBay, the organization of the Association's first project titled"Tripoli, the City of Holidays for 2017".
The press conference was attended by MP Mohammed Al Safadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center, Hussam Kbaiter, President of El Mina Municipality, Me Abdul Kader Alameddine, President of the Order of Architects and Engineers in the North, Eng. Marios El Beainy, Head of the Chamber of Tripoli and Northern Lebanon, MeTouficDabbousi, represented by Eng. Ibrahim Fawz and a gathering of media people and interested persons.
"Starting from the main objectives of "Indeed Better Together", the Association aims through its first project to let joy enter the heart of every child, elderly, sick and disabled"indicated Al Safadi, in her speech, clarifying that "the project concerns all the components of the community from orphan to deprived and refugee; it extends to the entire area of the country so that every citizen in Lebanon's second capital may celebrate. She indicated that "she aspires, with the aim of achieving the project's success, to cooperate with all the city's residents from officials to main actors and associations and all who are concerned in reflecting the civilized aspect of Al Fayhaa city".
She pointed that the "Tripoli, the City of Holidays" project has three main stages which start with the celebration of Al-Mawlid Al Nabawi (birth of the Prophet) from December 10 - 13, 2016, through the bringing of an exhibition from Turkey during which and for the first time some of the photos of the prophetic monuments shall be exhibited in addition to a Sufi singing choir. The celebrations will thenbe followed by the end of the year festivities onDecember 15-22, 2016. These festivities will be held at Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center under the title "Indeed We Can Celebrate the Holidays Together" and will include exhibitions, cultural and artistic festivities with the participation of world renowned artists in addition to holding entertainment games for children and families, and will be concluded with a humanitarian event which willhost 2000 orphans and needy children. The festivities will end with the Ramadan nights of Tripoli which will be held on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr on June 25-29, 2017, and include an exhibition and Ramadan evenings."
"The project's objectives are not only restricted to the festivities and exhibitions but the end of year holidays have touristic, economic and humanitarian objectives which first aim at placing Tripoli back on the touristic map and moving the economic cycle through the visit of more than 50 thousand participants to the exhibition from among the city's residents and outsiders, in addition to inviting no less than 10 thousand children from public schools, from the poorest of areas and from among Syrian refugees to take part in the exhibition free of charge through special programs, as well as the distribution of gifts to two thousand orphans on the last day, December 22, under the patronage of the Minister of Social Affairs," she clarified.
As for Minister Pharaon, he expressed his joy for participating "in a joyful occasion in Tripoli after all the suffering that Tripoli endured and overcame thanks to the individual initiatives and the efforts of the civil society." He considered that "the role played by the Ministry of Tourism during the past summer would not have been crowned with success were it not for the cooperation with the civil society, municipalities, institutions and individuals who are keen on protecting their areas and have zeal for them." He also praised the role played by Al Safadi.
He considered that "the security plan which was put in place in Tripoli succeeded in restoring stability to the city and such a plan should be reinforced by keeping any political conflict under the roof of security until constitutional institutions are able to resumetheir usual duties, in hope that the President of the Republic will be elected in the nearest time possible so that the irregular situation that Lebanon is witnessing comes to an end in politics, security, constitution and the economy."
Pharaon hoped that all the obstacles facing broad national understanding on the election of a President and the formation of a unified Government which organizes parliamentary elections on their due date will fall, so that afterwards a workshop of reform and renaissance will be launched and cover all fields and thus the Lebanese cities, and Tripoli on top of them, will live in perpetual joy and celebration."
In his turn, HussamKbaiter, President of Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center, expressed "the exhibition center's readiness to host all the cultural, touristic and artistic activities in addition to commercial exhibitions". He thanked Al Safadi for choosing the exhibition center and stated that "there is total readiness to assist and contribute in rendering this event a model for similar activities in the future."
