Report: New Committee to Tackle Exporting Waste – Naharnet
A new committee has been formed on Thursday to tackle the controversial trash crisis and to study the proposals presented by some companies to export Lebanon’s waste abroad, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Friday.
Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb heads the committee which is comprised of three new members one representing the Environment Ministry another representing the Council for Development and Reconstruction in addition to a judge to study the legal aspects of the offers put forward, unnamed ministerial sources told the daily.
The committee kicked off its first meeting Thursday evening under the chairmanship of Shehayyeb, and started studying the offers put forward by specialized companies in order to make the right decision before presenting it to the cabinet, they added without elaborating.
Lebanon has been suffering from a trash disposal crisis since July with the closure of the Naameh landfill.
Politicians have failed to find an alternative to the landfill, resulting in the pile up of garbage on the streets of the country.
Heavy rains last week brought with it flooded streets coupled with waste, as experts warned of the health and environmental impact of the crisis.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/193758-report-new-committee-to-tackle-exporting-waste
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Report: Salam Studying British Proposal to End Garbage Crisis
Prime Minister Tammam Salam is studying a number of proposals on exporting Lebanon’s waste, reported the daily An Nahar on Thursday.
The options include transporting the waste to Syria “based on proposals made by businessmen affiliated with political parties,” it added.
The cost of transporting the waste would range between 210 and 220 dollars per ton, while the price is lower for Syria, it revealed.
Ministerial sources meanwhile told al-Akhbar newspaper that Salam is examining a proposal made by a British company to settle the trash crisis.
They deemed the suggestion as “serious”, saying that it needs about two weeks to materialize.
Technical aspects of this proposal need about three months of preparations.
Lebanon was plunged in a trash disposal crisis after the closure of the Naameh landfill in July.
The closure resulted in the pile up of waste on the streets throughout the country as politicians continue to fail to find a solution to the problem.
M.T.
D.A.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/193653-report-salam-studying-british-proposal-to-end-garbage-crisis
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Berri Sets Date for Legislative Session, Dubs Trash Crisis as ‘Farce’ – Naharnet
Speaker Nabih Berri dubbed on Wednesday the four-month trash crisis as a “farce”, and scheduled a legislative session on the November 12.
“The trash crisis has become a farce. It is unacceptable that it stays trapped in bickering and disputes among the regions,” said Berri after his weekly meeting with lawmakers.
The speaker had called for general legislative sessions at 11:00 am and in the afternoon on November 12 and another session the day after at noon in order to tackle and approve several draft laws listed on the agenda.
Lawmakers quoted Berri as saying that “resuming legislative work has become more than necessary for the country. The situation cannot continue the way it is in light of the aggravating financial, economic and social threats.”
The cabinet has been so divided that it has failed more than two dozen times to elect a successor to president Michel Suleiman, whose mandate expired in May 2014.
The country has not had legislative elections since 2009, with parliament meeting only to extend its own mandate twice.
The deadlock has manifested itself most recently in a trash crisis created by the government’s failure to respond to the closure of the country’s largest landfill.
D.A.
M.T.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/193627-berri-sets-date-for-legislative-session-dubs-trash-crisis-as-farce
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Shehayyeb: Politicians Let Me down over Trash Crisis
Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb expressed his disappointment with the manner in which the garbage disposal crisis has been handled in the wake of the ongoing failure to resolve the problem, reported As Safir newspaper on Wednesday.
He told the daily that some politicians who had showered him with “theoretical support have let me down.”
In addition, he held some media outlets responsible for creating incitement against his garbage disposal plan, “which resulted in its practical and environmental defeat.”
Sources monitoring the case told As Safir that there is still time before Lebanon reaches the point of no return in the garbage crisis.
They explained that the dumps near the Rafik Hariri International Airport can take in a month’s worth of trash, despite holding more than 100,000 tons so far.
In addition, they said that areas that are receiving Beirut’s waste can carry on doing so for about two weeks.
The real problem lies in the garbage of the Metn and Keserouan regions, clarified the sources.
Efforts to resolve the trash disposal crisis that erupted in July have so far failed as officials floated once again on Tuesday the possibility of exporting the waste.
Lebanon has been suffering from a trash disposal crisis since July with the closure of the Naameh landfill. Politicians have failed to find an alternative to the landfill, which resulted in the pile up of garbage on the streets of the country.
There are fears the uncollected waste, coupled with the rain season, could spread diseases such as cholera among the population.
Various proposals made by Shehayyeb have been met with rejection and stalling.
M.T.
D.A.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/193568-shehayyeb-politicians-let-me-down-over-trash-crisis
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Dialogue Parties Discuss ‘Exporting’ Trash as Arslan Declares Residents Rejection of Costa Brava Landfill – Naharnet
Political rivals discussed during their national dialogue session on Tuesday the “characteristics” of the country’s next president and the possibility of “exporting” trash abroad as an instant solution to the unprecedented garbage disposal crisis that started on July 17.
“The option of sending trash abroad was one of the choices that were discussed in the national dialogue session,” state-run National News Agency reported.
It said the next dialogue session has been scheduled for November 17.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat described Tuesday’s session as “excellent.”
The presidential vacuum that started in May 2014 has had a detrimental impact on the work of the cabinet and the parliament. Speaker Nabih Berri had recently invited the rival parties to national dialogue sessions in parliament in a bid to ease tensions and to resolve the political deadlock.
Speaking to reporters after the session, Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan said “it is not for the dialogue table” to decide on the issue of setting up a garbage landfill in the Costa Brava area on Choueifat’s coast.
“We discussed the garbage crisis around the dialogue table and all the information about the Costa Brava landfill but this is not for the dialogue conference to decide on,” he said.
Following talks with dignitaries from the Choueifat area later in the day, Arslan announced that the residents have “categorically rejected” the proposal to set up a landfill in Costa Brava.
“After three days of deliberations, we have decided to categorically reject the Costa Brava landfill proposal,” Arslan said following the meeting in Choueifat.
“Our rejection is not aimed at putting obstacles in the way of the State,” he stressed.
The lawmaker noted that “the best solution is to export the trash because the sentiments of all Lebanese are tense.”
“Unfortunately there is a huge gap between citizens and the State,” he added.
“Dahieh is not in a confrontation with Choueifat or Khalde and those circulating sectarian rumors are seeking strife. We did not reject the landfill over sectarian or regional reasons,” Arslan underlined.
Earlier on Tuesday, Telecom Minister Butros Harb announced after the dialogue session that the garbage crisis took up most of the meeting’s time.
“Contacts will be conducted this afternoon and we must wait for 24 hours to know if a cabinet session will be held,” he said.
For his part, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who represented Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun in the session, called for “releasing and distributing the funds of municipalities to enable them to perform their waste management role.”
“We heard a lot of proposals regarding the garbage crisis, such as exportation, but we must reach a conclusion in this file,” he said.
“As for the president’s characteristics, I stressed that we must resort to the people and that the president must enjoy a popular base,” Kanaan added.
Also speaking after the dialogue session, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon noted that “the Bourj Hammoud dump can no longer take in garbage from Beirut.”
“The cabinet will not convene before we find a solution to the garbage crisis,” he said.
Media reports meanwhile said that a closed-door meeting was held between Arslan, MP Mohammed Raad of Hizbullah and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh to discuss the issue of the Costa Brava landfill.
Lebanon has been suffering from a trash disposal crisis since July with the closure of the Naameh landfill. Politicians have failed to find an alternative to the landfill, which resulted in the pile up of garbage on the streets of the country.
There are fears the uncollected waste, coupled with the rain season, could spread diseases such as cholera among the population.
Y.R.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/193536-dialogue-parties-discuss-exporting-trash-as-arslan-declares-residents-rejection-of-costa-brava-landfill