Decentralization Plan to Resolve Waste Crisis on Right Track

A ministerial committee tasked with resolving the country's seven-month-long waste crisis has agreed on the establishment of several landfills, ministerial sources have said.

Discussions are now focusing to secure consensus on the Kojok landfill in Iqlim al-Kharroub, the sources told several local dailies published on Friday.

The other landfills are in Bourj Hammoud and the so-called Costa Brava in Khaldeh, they said.

But As Safir daily said that Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has stressed he is not in favor of establishing a landfill in Iqlim al-Kharroub, where he has strong influence.

Tashnag leader MP Hagop Pakradounian also denied that his party has approved to open the landfill of Bourj Hammoud.

He said the Tashnag was waiting for a clear description from the authorities on how to operate the landfill before giving its green light.

There are also efforts to reopen the Naameh landfill to dump the waste that has accumulated on the streets and makeshift dumps since its closure in July last year.

The waste crisis emerged after Naameh, which used to receive the waste of Beirut and heavily-populated Mount Lebanon, was shut down.

The government approved a decentralization plan in November. But it then dropped the issue in favor of an export plan.

The export scheme failed last month when the authorities discovered that the firm, which was tasked with dealing with the issue, had forged the documents to export the waste to Russia.

After that scandal, the government decided to go back to the decentralization plan by offering financial resources to the residents and municipalities of areas where the landfills will be located.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned cabinet ministers on Thursday that he would not call for a cabinet session next week if the country’s waste problem is not resolved soon.

Salam denied that he would suspend cabinet sessions, telling ministers the situation is “much worse than that,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said in his press briefing.