Garbage Crisis Unresolved, Salam Declines to Schedule Another Session

The government failed anew on Thursday to reach a solution to the crisis of solid waste management, which prompted Prime Minister Tammam Salam to adjourn the cabinet session following an extensive yet unfruitful debate.

“The cabinet discussed the issue of solid waste and thoroughly discussed a report by the environment minister, but it was not able to reach a decision regarding this file and (Salam) decided to adjourn the session,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced after a cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail.

Salam for his part stressed that he “will not schedule another session unless a solution is found for the garbage crisis.”

The dispute over the file has taken a political turn, with Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq and the Kataeb Party's ministers demanding a “technical” extension of the the Naameh landfill's operations and the Progressive Socialist Party's ministers rejecting such a move.

The government's contract with the Sukleen firm on dumping waste in the aforementioned landfill will end on January 17. And as Mashnouq has demanded a brief grace period to conduct new tenders, Naameh's residents are rejecting any extension of the landfill's operations, citing major environmental and health risks.

Amid the presidential vacuum that started on May 25, any cabinet decree requires the signatures of all the ministers of the 24-member cabinet.

“We insisted on the closure of the Naameh landfill on the set date and refused any extension. There is no solution looming on the horizon and we're heading towards a major crisis,” Health Minister Wael Abou Faour of the PSP announced after the session.

His remarks poured cold water on the hopes of the environment minister, who had announced before the meeting that PSP chief Walid Jumblat “would not oppose extending the Naameh landfill's operations should he sense seriousness in addressing the issue.”

Prior to the session, media reports quoted Economy Minister Alain Hakim -- who represents Kataeb -- as saying that “everyone knows by now that Jumblat owns a company that is ready to start managing waste,” claims that were swiftly denied by the minister.

“If the waste management file was not approved today, the cabinet must be dumped at the Naameh landfill!” State Minister for Administrative Development Nabil De Freij announced ahead of the session.

Separetly, Jreij declared that “as in every session, Salam called for the election of a new president.”

The cabinet also expressed “grief” over the bloody Paris attack on the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 people dead on Wednesday.

“The council of ministers expressed its grief over the Paris crime, declaring the solidarity of Lebanon's government and people with France -- the pioneer of freedoms, topped by the freedom of journalism -- which has always stood by Lebanon,” Jreij said.

Y.R.