The construction of a huge market for fruits and vegetables in the populous Tarik el-Jdide area in Beirut has created a controversy between traditional street cart vendors and the project's advocates who believe the market will revolutionize the sale of fruits and vegetables.

The market will be located in a 10,400-square-meter (2.6-acre) mall on the so-called Jalloul land that belongs to the municipality of Beirut. Al-Jihad for Commerce and Contracting, a local company that handles projects for many public facilities in Lebanon, started the construction of the mall in February 2018. The construction is to be completed and handed over to the municipality in January 2020, according to the contract signed between the two.

The mall, which will include a three-story parking lot, will have 168 shops and 96 stands. It will feature air conditioning and escalators as well as cooling facilities to keep the produce fresh and a lab for product testing.

“I might not be able to pay the rent for a stand at the mall, but I asked anyway and I was told all stands and shops have already been rented,” Jad Abu Jaras, who owns a vegetable street cart, told Al-Monitor. “The mall can certainly hurt us or we may be asked to leave the area. We are just waiting to see what happens after it opens.”