Construction Works Halted at Srar Landfill

Construction works preparing the Srar landfill in northern Akkar district have been halted on Wednesday after protesters and several students held a sit-in protesting the move, the state-run National News Agency said.

A number of campaigners erected tents in Akkar's area of al-Abboudieh and school students held a sit-in in the area to halt the works of bulldozers amid heavy security presence, NNA added.

The security forces who have worked under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel Moustafa al-Ayyoubi along with other senior officers put an end to the dispute that erupted between the residents and the workers.

The protesters reject government plans to set up a “sanitary landfill” in the town of Srar.

They have held similar sit-ins before, slamming the decision to dump the garbage of Beirut in Srar.

The trash management crisis erupted in July when the Naameh landfill, that receives the trash of Beirut and Mount Lebanon was closed.

A plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts called for reopening the Naameh landfill 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 Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into sanitary landfills capable of receiving trash for more than a year.

However, the ministerial waste committee has dismissed the possibility of opening a landfill in al-Masnaa because geological reports have shown that it will affect the ground water.

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.

D.A.

M.T.