Protesters continued on Monday their sit-in outside the Naameh landfill for the fourth consecutive day, preventing trucks loaded with waste from entering the area. Demonstrators have vowed to act as “human shields” to prevent any garbage trucks from violating a decision to shut the 17-year-old dump.
Meanwhile, the streets of Mount Lebanon and Beirut were left with piles of garbage after “Sukleen” company stopped collecting waste. The situation is to remain suspended until the cabinet session scheduled for Thursday convenes.
The Naameh landfill originally opened in 1998 as part of the then-government’s Emergency Plan to close the Burj Hammoud dump. The plan was supposed to be temporary, and the Naameh landfill was scheduled for closure in 2004. Nonetheless, successive cabinets kept postponing the date, and Sukleen overfilled the site far beyond any conceivable capacity. The Naameh dump, originally appointed to receive 2 million tons of waste, has been filled with over 15 million tons to date.