Interactive pothole map

byHabib Battah
Apr 29, 2013

Lebanon’s roads are notorious for potholes, which often go unattended for months and cost drivers millions in repairs every year.

But in one town, an enterprising young citizen has chosen to do something about it, launching the pothole locator site: BatrounRoads.com

I discovered this site in the comments section of Elie’s post, which highlighted the lack of accountability from MPs on this issue.

Chronicling potholes is great way to warn other drivers and also provide the municipality with a live inventory of work that needs to be done. My only suggestion is that the site allow other drivers to contribute and be broadened to include other cities.

Habib Battah

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 15 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.