BEIRUT: The world’s “first floating island,” currently under construction and destined for Jounieh Bay, has been rejected by municipality officials as incompatible with the seaside resort town.

“There is no place for the island in Jounieh,” Mayor Antoine Frem told The Daily Star, adding that the municipality did not have the capacity to accommodate the island’s guests.

Frem said the Municipal Council had decided not to grant permission for the project, which was to launch in Jounieh in summer 2015

“A project of this caliber needs to be constructed in an area that does not have a dense population” Frem said, stressing that the project would require infrastructure and a large number of parking spaces.

The mayor also raised environmental concerns, pointing out that mechanisms for waste and sewage management had yet to be resolved.