Prime Minister Tammam Salam hinted Tuesday that the exportation of garbage has become the only solution to the growing trash disposal crisis as he traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend an Arab-South American summit.

“The cost of exportation might be high and its technical requirements might not be easy, but should we manage to do it, the temporary step would only span a year and a half … pending the approval of a permanent plan,” Salam told reporters aboard the plane that carried him to Riyadh.

A new committee headed by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb was 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.

The committee is comprised of members representing the Environment Ministry and the Council for Development and Reconstruction in addition to a judge who would study the legal aspects of the offers put forward, unnamed ministerial sources told the daily.

Lebanon has been suffering from an unprecedented trash disposal crisis since July with the closure of the Naameh landfill. Politicians have failed to find an alternative to the landfill, which has resulted in the pile up of garbage on the streets of the country and in random sites.

There are fears that the accumulating garbage, coupled with the rain season, could spread diseases such as cholera among the population.

Separately, Salam said he supports holding a legislative session on Thursday and Friday, noting that “the country needs an activation of the work of parliament and cabinet in order to address citizens’ vital affairs away from the political disputes that have so far prevented the election of a president.”

As for the topics he intends to discuss in Riyadh, Salam said his talks will tackle the Syrian refugee crisis and the fight against terrorism.

Media reports in recent weeks said that Salam would hold talks with a number of Saudi officials during the trip.

M.T./Y.R.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/194045-salam-heads-to-saudi-says-costly-trash-export-may-be-a-temporary-solution