In footage circulated by activists, refuse piled up during months-long crisis is seen floating through Lebanese capital.

25 Oct 2015
[for video see http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/video-garbage-beirut-151025171759582.html]

Streets in parts of the Lebanese capital turned into rivers of garbage as heavy rains washed through mountains of rubbish that have piled up during a months-long waste collection crisis.

In a video being circulated by an online activist group calling itself “You Stink”, refuse can be seen floating through the Bauchrieh neighbourhood on Sunday.

“You Stink” and other civil society groups have organised numerous rallies in the capital to demonstrate against political dysfunction amid the ongoing rubbish collection crisis.

The group accused Lebanon’s politicians of doing nothing “while the country drowns in their trash as a result of rampant, criminal corruption and inaction”.

On the edge of the city, activists from the “You Stink” campaign collected and sorted garbage that was washed into the Beirut river.

Elsewhere, residents and municipal workers used bulldozers to push dispersed trash back into piles after the rains stopped.

Dispute over landfill

Bags of rubbish from households and businesses started to pile up on the streets of Beirut this summer, overflowing and littering the streets.

Lebanon’s main landfill, which was set up as a temporary dumping area and holds many million tonnes of garbage over its capacity, was blocked by nearby residents.

Sukleen, the private company managing Beirut’s garbage, then had nowhere to dispose of the approximately 2,000-3,000 tonnes produced daily in and around the city.

The closure of the landfill coincided with the ending of the company’s contract with the government, exacerbating the crisis further.

Activists and several ministers have long warned that the arrival of winter, which often brings heavy rains to Lebanon, risked dispersing months worth of garbage that has accumulated in open dumps.

More than an immediate problem, the piles of garbage serve as an uncomfortable reminder of a larger Lebanese political failure.

The country has for many years faced nationwide infrastructure problems, including water shortage and daily electricity cuts.

Lebanon has also gone over a year without a president.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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Lebanese PM claims ‘rivers of rubbish’ video is fake – Al Arabiya

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam said on Monday that the video showing rain-soaked streets in parts of Lebanon flowing with garbage was fake, the website of private Lebanese TV channel al-Jadeed reported.

The prime minister claimed that an investigation had revealed that a truck full of waste had driven through the streets of Beirut before dumping its load in the street during a rainfall, making the video depict a worse scene than in reality.

VIDEO: Video shows ‘rivers of rubbish’ in Lebanon

The latest incident comes three months into a crisis that began after the closure of Lebanon’s largest landfill in July, and the government’s failure to find an alternative dumping site.

The crisis sparked a protest movement led by the “You Stink” activist group, which brought thousands of people into the streets for several weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/27/Lebanese-PM-claims-rivers-of-rubbish-video-is-fake.html
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Rain produces rivers of trash in Lebanese capital – Al Arabiya

Sunday, 25 October 2015

Streets in parts of Lebanon turned into rivers of garbage on Sunday as heavy rains washed through mountains of trash that have piled up during a months-long waste collection crisis.

Residents and activists posted photographs and video online showing water from torrential showers carrying accumulated waste down streets in the early morning outside Beirut and beyond.

VIEW MORE: Video shows ‘rivers of rubbish’ in Lebanon

On the edge of the capital, activists from the “You Stink” campaign, which has protested the government’s failure to solve the crisis, collected and sorted garbage that was washed into the Beirut river.

And elsewhere, residents and municipal workers used bulldozers to push dispersed trash back into piles after the rains stopped.

The scenes come three months into a crisis precipitated by the closure of Lebanon’s largest landfill in July, and the government’s failure to find an alternative.

The crisis sparked a protest movement led by the “You Stink” activist group, which brought thousands of people into the streets for several weeks of demonstrations.

The cabinet in early September approved a plan that involved finding new sites for landfills and temporarily reopening the closed Naameh site for the immediate disposal of already-accumulated waste.

But the plan has run into a series of obstacles, including the refusal of residents around Naameh to allow its reopening and protests by people living near prospective new landfill sites.

Activists and several ministers have long warned that the arrival of winter, which often brings heavy rains to Lebanon, risked dispersing months worth of trash that has accumulated in open dumps.

“You Stink” activists wearing protective suits and facemasks sorted trash that had washed into the Beirut river from piles where it has been dumped along its banks on Sunday.

“We are proud to be ‘waste workers’ in this country, for trash, corruption, and the corrupt,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.

It accused Lebanon’s politicians of doing nothing “while the country drowns in their trash as a result of rampant, criminal corruption and inaction.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Rain-produces-rivers-of-trash-in-Lebanese-capital-.html