Lebanon Speaker Nabih Berri sent the garbage crisis back to square one after rejecting a plan to export Lebanon’s waste and stressed on Thursday that the garbage should be dumped in the coastal area of Costa Brava in Khalde and Srar in Akkar, al-Joumhouria daily reported.
Berri said that the trash generated from the southern suburbs of Beirut should be taken to the Costa Brava landfill and that of Beirut to Srar, the daily added.
He suggested that the hazardous dumpster of Costa Brava should be converted into an environment friendly facility and the capacity of Srar should be expanded to receive additional quantities.
Furthermore the piles of trash sent to Sidon landfill should be increased to receive trash from Mount Lebanon and Beirut in addition to activating the Karantina waste treatment facility.
Two firms were shortlisted to export Lebanon’s trash, Britain’s Chinook Urban Mining International and Holland’s Howa BV , but Howa recently withdrew its offer
Lebanon is scrambling to find a solution to the garbage crisis after heavy rains swept mounds of uncollected waste into Beirut’s streets raising public health concerns.
Officials have for months failed to find an alternative to the dump, resulting in the accumulation of trash on the streets throughout the country.
The cabinet in December approved the export of the waste despite reservations of the Phalange and and Change and Reform blocs.
The residents of Khalde rejected last year the creation of a landfill in the coastal area of Costa Brava, MP Talal Arslan announced on Nov 3, 2015
“After three days of discussions with [Shoueifat] notables, officials and [political] parties, we decided to reject outright the establishment of a landfill in Costa Brava,” Arslan told a news conference.
Hezbollah and Berri’s Amal Movement are reportedly to blame for torpedoing Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb’s original plan because they failed to propose locations for setting up landfills in the Bekaa and south of Lebanon.
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