The voices of the Lebanese people protesting for about 10 months now haven’t been heard nor heeded by politicians who refuse to budge, a government who doesn’t comprehend the urgency of implementing reforms, a ruling body that is oblivious of their real responsibilities towards its citizens, and a state that is ruled by sectarian politics.

The apocalyptic explosion of this week the got the people to say “enough is enough,” considering that it was caused by neglect from the state and at least two of its institutions, and probably corruption.

Officials raised the alarm 10 times in the seven years the ammonium nitrate was there, documents show, but nothing has been done.

While the investigation into the cause of the explosion is still ongoing, the country’s interior minister Mohammed Fahmi suggested the blast was likely caused by more than 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that was confiscated in 2014 and had been stored in a warehouse at the port ever since.

There are only two reasons why such a quantity of highly explosive substance would be held for so long in the port. One is negligence, the other is corruption. In Lebanon, both are a part of daily life, a method by which the country’s ruling class have killed their citizens for decades.

They are the same reasons why garbage piles up in the streets sporadically in Lebanon during squabbles over the spoils of waste disposal contracts, why the country cannot provide stable electricity supply, and why thousands of young Lebanese are leaving the country every year.

A corrupt political elite that has ruled the country since the end of the civil war, made up of the warlords from that very conflict, has robbed generations of Lebanese citizens of their right to be treated as citizens and not dependents.