LEBANON-POLITICS/RUBBISH Lebanese environment minister announces start of rubbish collections as protesters call for permanent solution to trash crisis

Record ID: 145999

  • Title: LEBANON-POLITICS/RUBBISH Lebanese environment minister announces start of rubbish collections as protesters call for permanent solution to trash crisis
  • Date: 28th July 2015
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (NIGHT SHOTS) (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) CARS DRIVING PAST GARBAGE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STREET IN BEIRUT GARBAGE IN THE STREET VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS GRAND SERAIL BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN BEIRUT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, MOHAMAD AL MACHNOUK, SAYING: "The committee unanimously decided the following: to give the
  • Embargoed: 12th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA66YIRA7MPC4PKGPHI4GZAF83S
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Lebanese Environment Minister Mohamad Al Machnouk announced on Monday night (July 27) the immediate start of garbage collections from Beirut's streets after mounting rubbish piles filled areas of the Lebanese capital and Mount Lebanon over the past week, raising concerns among citizens and prompting protests across the country.
    "The committee unanimously decided the following: to give the instruction to immediately start removing the rubbish from the streets of Beirut," Al Machnouk announced from the government headquarters Grand Serail building in downtown Beirut after a meeting of officials late on Monday but he did not say where the collected garbage would be taken.
    Locals blocked South Lebanon's main Mediterranean coastal highway several times on Sunday (July 26) and Monday (July 27) protesting against a plan to dump the rubbish from Beirut - home to more than half of Lebanon's population - at sites around the country.
    Lebanese army and internal security forces managed to re-open the Jiyeh highway road on Monday night (July 27) after the environment minister announced what some local media outlets and newspaper called as 'temporary solution for the garbage crisis'.
    Garbage has piled up in the streets, festering in the summer heat after the failure to agree to other locations following the closure of a big landfill site last week.
    Waste management company Sukleen resumed collecting rubbish shortly after Al Machnouk's announcement and continued overnight.
    On Tuesday morning (July 28), many of the capital's garbage containers were empty but some piles of rubbish could still be seen on the streets.
    The failure to resolve the crisis had brought a threat of resignation by Prime Minister Tamam Salam, who heads a government of national unity that maintains a semblance of central authority and contains sectarian tensions.
    The Lebanese cabinet was set to meet on Tuesday (July 28) to discuss the issue, but Salam postponed the session until Thursday (July 30) a couple of hours before the scheduled cabinet meeting.
    Several protests took place in Beirut's main commercial centre and near the seat of government, with protesters burning hundreds of trash bins. The latest was on Tuesday (July 28) where many Lebanese activists gathered outside the building of the government headquarters demanding long-lasting and environmental-friendly solutions for Lebanon's trash crisis.
    "We are protesting to tell the government that we are not leaving the streets before the garbage is cleaned not only from the streets but from all places too. There is no way we are leaving the streets before we clean up the trash, we are here to say this," said Lebanese protester Ajwad Al-Ayyash.
    The crisis echoes wider problems facing Lebanon.
    "It is not about trash only anymore, it is bigger than this. It is about the country being ruled by gangs, they are all gangs, they burned and stole the country and built debts of billions on it, we cannot take it anymore. We should work for a civil country, everyone sitting in the ruling state should know they are stinking," said Lebanese engineer Zaher Dirani protesting in front of the Grand Serail.
    "The thing is that we have covered with garbage for at least a week, not mentioning the last couple of years where everyone suspended his governmental actions, so we thought this action was necessary to wake people up and wake ourselves up from this mess we got ourselves in," added Lebanese 18-year-old student Ali Hammoush.
    The weak state has long been criticised for failing to develop the country and its infrastructure: Beirut still suffers daily power cuts some 25 years since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
    But the conflict in neighbouring Syria has exacerbated Lebanon's political divisions, often along sectarian lines that reflect the Syrian conflict.
    The presidency has been vacant for more than a year, and a parliament elected in 2009 has extended its own term and postponed elections until 2017 on the grounds of instability.
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