Cabinet approves waste plan

The Cabinet convened on Saturday at the Grand Serail whereby it approved on re-opening the Naameh landfill for two months only as well as re-activating the Costa Brava and Bourj Hammoud landfills amid reservations made by the Kataeb party.

 

According to the plan, the garbage of Beirut will be distributed on Costa Brava, Bourj Hammoud and Sidon incinerator.

 

This as the waste will be removed from streets starting Sunday or Monday.

 

Meanwhile, a landfill’s location in the Shouf and Aley areas will be determined later following consultations with the local municipalities, said Minister of Information Ramzi Jreij in his press briefing following the session.

The cabinet also tasked the interior ministry with drafting a bill on the incentives that should be ​allocated to the municipalities near the landfills at the cost of $40 million.

It also ​granted $50 million for development projects in towns that ​are located near the landfills, Jreij said.

 

Prior to the session, Economy Minister Alain Hakim said that "they were faced with a certain reality and they have several technical questions on the proposal to end the trash crisis."

For his part, Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan noted that the active political forces are working on setting up a landfill in Iqlim al-Kharroub for the waste from the Aley and Chouf regions.

In turn, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab stressed that Sukleen is the sole company that is eligible to carry out the solution in the meantime.

Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil said that he will brief ministers during the session on the costs of the plan to establish landfills.

This as Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayyeb urged all the politicians to end this crisis immediately.  

Lebanon has been plunged into a waste management crisis after the shutdown last July of the Naameh landfill where the garbage of Beirut and Mount Lebanon was dumped.

The closure resulted in the accumulation of garbage on the streets across the country, sparking environmental and health warnings over the prolongation of the problem.

Popular protests were held against the crisis since its beginning.