Shehayyeb Meets Aoun: We Want to Eliminate Trash Dumps in Favor of Sanitary Landfills – Naharnet

Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb hoped on Monday that his plan for resolving the garbage disposal crisis will be implemented this week, seeing as the people “can no longer tolerate the accumulating trash.”

He said after holding talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun: “We are seeking to eliminate garbage dumps in favor of establishing two sanitary landfills.”

“We will look into solutions that adhere to scientific and environmental standards,” he stressed, while adding that he will consider any new proposals if they are better than his own.

“If some sides are rejecting my plan for the sake of rejection, then I say that the people can no longer stand the trash,” said the minister in response to his critics.

“The price of prolonging the crisis has become too high as our capabilities would not be able to handle it,” he warned earlier to As Safir newspaper.

Shehayyeb added that there are concerns that the delay in adopting the plan will lead to the accumulation of more waste that could exceed the capacity of the Naameh landfill.

According to the minister’s proposal, around 50,000 to 70,000 tons of waste will be disposed at the landfill during a seven-day period after which it will be closed in preparation for a project to produce electricity, for nearby areas, from the trash.

Turning to his critics, Shehayyeb hoped that they would approach it from a “realistic point of view, because we have very limited options and little time to find a practical and immediate alternative to the plan.”

The minister’s proposal calls for the reopening of the Naameh landfill whose closure on July 17 sparked the country’s garbage crisis.

Earlier in September, the municipal union of towns in the vicinity of the Naameh landfill announced its approval of Shehayyeb’s proposal to reopen the facility for seven days to dump the trash that has been accumulating in Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the dumpsite’s closure. The union, however, insisted that other landfills cited in the minister’s plan must be also activated at the same time.

On Sunday, the residents of the town of Ain Drafil expressed the readiness of their region to support Shehayyeb’s to tackle the garbage disposal crisis despite the opposition of some locals and civil society activists.

Later on Monday, the civil society movement held a press conference to present its own proposal to end the garbage disposal crisis, rejecting Shehayyeb’s plan.

It explained that its plan can be implemented “as soon as tomorrow, while the minister’s needs time.”

It emphasized the importance of sorting trash from the source, demanding that regulations be imposed to raise awareness on this issue.

It also called for ceasing the use of garbage compression trucks “that render the waste ineligible for export.”

The movement reiterated its demands for the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq and that the waste collection company Sukleen be prevented from resuming its duties “due to its corruption.”

Furthermore, it rejected attempts by the government to blame it for the prolongation of the trash crisis, demanding that the case be kept away from political dealings.

M.T.

D.A.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/190720-shehayyeb-meets-aoun-we-want-to-eliminate-trash-dumps-in-favor-of-sanitary-landfills
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Ain Drafil Residents Voice Support for Shehayyeb’s Trash Disposal Plan – Naharnet

The residents of the town of Ain Drafil expressed on Sunday the readiness of their region to support the plan of Environment Minister Akram Shehayyeb to tackle the garbage disposal crisis.

They said during a press conference: “We responded positively with the minister’s plan out of our sense of national responsibility.”

“We hope that our positivity will be met with the same on the part of the cabinet and that officials would respect their pledges,” they added.

The acceptance of the plan will see the reopening of the Naameh landfill whose closure on July 17 sparked the country’s garbage crisis.

Media reports said earlier on Sunday that the crisis will be the cabinet’s top priority when it convenes after the return of Prime Minister Tammam Salam from New York, said An Nahar daily.

A date for the cabinet session has not been set yet, but informed sources said that the environmental aspects of the crisis will be its main concern.

Shehayyeb has been spearheading efforts to resolve the problem by holding a series of meetings with various experts in the field to discuss his plan to end the crisis.

He had held on Friday a six-hour meeting to that end on Friday to overcome the remaining obstacles hindering the implementation of his plan, added the sources.

The minister had contacted Salam to inform him of his latest progress.

Shehayyeb devised with a group of experts an emergency waste management plan that calls for the seven-day temporary reopening of the controversial Naameh landfill with the consent of residents of Ain Drafil.

Earlier in September, the municipal union of towns in the vicinity of the Naameh landfill announced its approval of Shehayyeb’s proposal to reopen the facility for seven days to dump the trash that has been accumulating in Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the dumpsite’s July 17 closure. The union, however, insisted that other landfills cited in the minister’s plan must be also activated at the same time.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/190645-ain-drafil-residents-voice-support-for-shehayyeb-s-trash-disposal-plan
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Mashnouq: Shehayyeb’s Plan Will Only Be Implemented with People’s Approval – Naharnat

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced that a date has not been set yet for the implementation of Environment Minister Akram Shehayyeb’s plan on resolving the garbage crisis, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday.

He told the daily: “Shehayyeb’s plan will not be adopted without the consent of the people.”

“Contacts are ongoing with concerned officials to that end,” he added.

The minister said that positive feedback has been received over the plan.

Shehayyeb devised with a group of experts an emergency waste management plan that calls for the seven-day temporary reopening of the controversial Naameh landfill with the consent of residents of the town of Ain Drafil.

Earlier in September, the municipal union of towns in the vicinity of the Naameh landfill announced its approval of Shehayyeb’s proposal to reopen the facility for seven days to dump the trash that has been accumulating in Beirut and Mount Lebanon since the dumpsite’s July 17 closure. The union, however, insisted that other landfills cited in the minister’s plan must be also activated at the same time.

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/190647-mashnouq-shehayyeb-s-plan-will-only-be-implemented-with-people-s-approval
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Protesters Reject Naameh Landfill Reopening, Vow Alternative Plan as Majdal Anjar Road Blocked – Naharnet

Residents and civil society activists staged a new sit-in Sunday outside the Naameh landfill to condemn government plans to reopen the controversial facility for seven days, vowing to unveil an alternative waste management plan on Monday.

“We do not like to obstruct projects but the state’s promises are untruthful,” residents at the protest said in a statement, vowing an “open-ended sit-in” to prevent the reopening of the landfill “even for a single hour.”

The residents were joined by civil society activists from across Lebanon who heeded a joint call from the activist groups that have organized several demos since the July 17 closure of the landfill and the eruption of the unprecedented garbage crisis.

“The alternative plan envisages declaring an environmental state of emergency that would expose all cases of corruption and blackmail,” former minister Charbel Nahhas, a vocal member of the protest movement, announced.

He said the plan will be unveiled during a press conference that will be held Monday at 1:00 pm.

“We are not negative and tomorrow we will propose a plan that involves only one landfill instead of three,” Lebanon Eco Movement leader Paul Abi Rashed told reporters at the sit-in.

Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the town of Baawarta described the plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts as “suspicious,” noting that involves the embezzlement of public funds worth $30 million.

He also urged the interior minister “not to use force to reopen the landfill,” warning that such a move would lead to “confrontations with security forces.”

“Our Lives are More Important than Your Gains!” and “Poor Regions Have Landfills but Not Hospitals”, read some of the banners that were carried by protesters.

Earlier in the day, activists and Majdal Anjar residents blocked the international highway leading to Syria in protest at government plans to set up a garbage landfill in the Eastern Mountain Range.

Also on Sunday, the residents of the town of Ain Drafil near the Naameh landfill expressed the readiness of their region to support Shehayyeb’s plan.

They said during a press conference: “We responded positively to the minister’s plan out of our sense of national responsibility.”

Shehayyeb has stressed that only partnership between authorities and the civil society would guarantee the success of the committee tasked with resolving the country’s two-month long waste crisis.

A plan devised by Shehayyeb and a team of experts calls for reopening the Naameh landfill, which was closed in mid-July, for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

It also envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into “sanitary landfills” capable of receiving trash for more than a year.

After he announced his plan earlier this month, the civil society and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Bourj Hammoud protested against the step.

Environmentalists fear the crisis could degenerate to the point where garbage as well as sewage will simply overflow into the sea from riverbeds as winter rains return.

The health ministry has warned that garbage scattered by seasonal winds could also block Lebanon’s drainage system.

The trash crisis has sparked angry protests that initially focused on waste management but grew to encompass frustrations with water and electricity shortages and Lebanon’s chronically divided political class.

Campaigns like “You Stink” brought thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the entire political class.

Y.R.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/190703-protesters-reject-naameh-landfill-reopening-vow-alternative-plan-as-majdal-anjar-road-blocked