Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb followed-up on the waste crisis during a meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail Thursday, where he hoped that within 48 hours, a plan based on partnership would be achieved.
The minister explained that various political forces have to guarantee the requirements of the plan, namely the landfills, in order for the solution to be successful.
Chehayeb declared that another meeting will be held in the evening with Salam and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil to continue the discussions in this regard.
The minister also held meetings with Kataeb party Chief MP Sami Gemayel and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, who was tasked by head of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun with following up on the waste issue.
Following his meeting with Minister Bou Saab at the Ministry of Education, Minister Chehayeb said that the trash crisis is a national issue par excellence, calling for overcoming all pending obstacles standing in the way of a solution.
For his part, Minister Bou Saab noted that there are some amendments to Minister Chehayeb’s plan, calling on rival political parties to come together in a bid to make way for a viable solution.
Earlier in the day, civil society groups dumped garbage along the road leading to the Grand Serail, where the ministers held to discuss the waste crisis.
The activists expressed solidarity with the residents of Sad al-Bouchrieh and other regions that had witnessed waste flooding due to rainfall.
In a statement, the activists called on the officials to overcome their differences and personal interests and take the appropriate decision concerning the crisis in which the country has been plunged, stressing the need to put an end to “the current environmental disaster as soon as possible through the implementation of a sound plan.”
Lebanon has been grappling with a waste crisis following the July 17 closure of the Naameh landfill. This has led to the piling up of garbage on the streets of the capital and other areas.
For more details, watch the full report in the video above.