Once More Lebanon's Trash Scandal Addressed in Foreign Media

Days following a scandalous report published on CNN showing Lebanon's river of trash flowing through the streets of the nation, the issue has once again made it to the pages of foreign magazines including French the Courrier International and Canadian Journal De Montreal touching on the government's inability to handle this file.

The Journal de Montréal, a daily tabloid newspaper, published a long article on the trash management crisis accompanied with a mock video Rise Above Lebanon's Political garbage commissioned by the You Stink Lebanese protest movement showing mountains of rubbish across the country.

For its part, Courrier International, a Paris-based French weekly, also addressed the eight-month-long trash crisis on its pages showing the piles of garbage on beaches, mountains, forests and river beds.

Last week, CNN mocked what it called Beirut's river of trash in a Mount Lebanon town of Fanar after activists published a footage of it piling up.

In one of the shots filmed by a drone, plastic bags containing rubbish can be seen stretching for miles like overflowing rivers.

Denouncing the "scandal", You Stink said its video is "a parody of the tourism ministry's campaign entitled Rise Above Lebanon”, a reference to the footage commissioned by ministry.

In that video, Lebanon, once nicknamed the Switzerland of the Middle East, is seen from a totally different angle.

Spectacular aerial views show pristine beaches, lush mountains, rivers, archaeological sites -- all rubbish-free.

In its video footage, You Stink also called on the Lebanese people to join a protest on Saturday in Beirut -- the first demonstration to be organized by the group in months.

D.A.

G.K.