Caretaker Agriculture Minister Ghazi Zeaiter stressed Tuesday that “the ship transporting cows ‘Rahma’ never came to Lebanon,” stressing that the video of the diver who spotted a dead cow in the sea was shot in 2016.
In a press conference, Zeaiter explained that the ship’s engine broke down off the shore of Cyprus, the ship’s curators decided to bring it to Beirut’s port to replace engine parts, noting that after the controversy arose in Lebanon in this regard, the ship did not enter Lebanon.
“The Agriculture Ministry is not concerned with any empty ship coming to Lebanon and when we want to import live cattle or meat, they arrive directly to Lebanon from the country of origin without passing by another state,” he stated, reiterating that reports of a ship transporting infected cows to Lebanon are not based on real facts.