Mashnouq Says Naameh Landfill to be Closed by July 17

Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq stressed on Tuesday that the Naameh landfill, which lies in the Shouf district south of Beirut, will be closed on July 17.

The minister said during a meeting with the coalition of municipalities concerned with the closure of the controversial landfill that it will be transformed into a garden and electricity will be generated from it to neighboring towns.

Mashnouq revealed that tenders for the project will kick off on May 26.

In January, the cabinet decided to delay the closure of the landfill for three month, drawing the ire of the residents of Naameh.

The government approved the controversial decision after a long-heated debate for several months regarding the country's plan to treat solid waste.

The cabinet has also extended for the same period of time the contract with Sukleen, which is responsible for collecting and transporting the garbage in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and with Sukomi company that treats the waste transferred to the Burj Hammoud dump by Sukleen and takes them to Naameh.

The new plan, which decentralizes the management of solid waste, divides Lebanon into six blocks and limits the licensing of garbage collection to one contractor in maximum two blocks.

The government had also decided that contractors who win tenders would find the locations of landfills.

H.K.

M.T.