The World Bank has announced the cancellation of $244 million in funds for the Bisri Dam project in Lebanon after repeatedly raising concerns about the project since January.

The Bank said on Friday in a statement that the Lebanese government had failed to address questions about an ecological compensation plan and arrangements for operations and management of the dam.

Activists had set up camps in Bisri Valley with the intent to stay until the project was entirely scrapped.

“The campaign moved the issue to the global level with many international groups and the Lebanese diaspora today working together,” Nassour said. “There’s a lot of international pressure to stop this project.”

“We will be borrowing $600 million, and we don’t know if the project will even be a success,” Samer El-Khoury, activist and co-founder of Minteshreen, a youth movement born out of the Lebanese protests, told Arab News before Friday’s development.

Protests against the construction of the Bisri Dam have been staged both in Lebanon and abroad. The UK-based NGO Impact Lebanon has organized rallies for expats opposed to the project, including one held outside the World Bank’s London office in Westminster.

“The whole diaspora has been really a big part of this and has made a great, positive impact,” El-Khoury said. “They should keep on protesting at World Bank offices against the dam.”