PSP supports residents of Al-Naameh, says landfill should be closed by 2015

 
The Progressive Socialist Party issued a statement on Sunday in which it expressed its support to the residents of Al-Naameh and other neighboring regions.
  
In its statement, the PSP said solutions pertaining to the Al-Naameh landfill are based upon the following:                  

-Closing the landfill by the 17th of January 2015                 

-Putting an end to the expansion of the landfill during the current year.                

-Taking advantage of the landfill to produce electrical power.                  

-Passing laws that grant towns neighboring the landfill financial incentives; exempting municipalities of neighboring regions from paying fees incurred on them by Sukleen Company.

-Following up on the items of the contract signed between Sukleen Company and the Development and Construction Council.     

-Forming a committee that monitors the use of the landfill until its closure.          

On Saturday, January 18, residents and environmental activists launched an open sit-in to protest a recent decision that extends the contract of Sukleen at the al-Naameh landfill.           

An agreement was reached on Sunday evening during a meeting with Prime minister-Designate Tammam Salam in Mseitbeh, to reopen al-Naameh road for a period of 48 hours in a bid to reach a solution for the said landfill. However, the residents re-blocked the road when the deadline expired pending a better decision.      

The landfill was opened in 1997 following the closure of the Normandy seafront dump in Beirut, and was initially set to operate for only six year.