Salam Won't Call Cabinet to Session 'until Clarifications Made in Exporting Waste'

Prime Minister Tammam Salam revealed that contacts are ongoing to reach an agreement over exporting trash from Lebanon, reported An Nahar daily on Tuesday.

He told the daily: “Several questions remain and clarifications need to be made with the companies seeking to export the waste.”

“I will not call cabinet to session until all aspects of a solution to the crisis are clear,” he stressed.

The premier added that Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb is following up on this issue with him closely, “especially since we are pressed for time and it is no longer acceptable to delay a solution.”

An Nahar meanwhile said that clarifications are focusing on reaching the cheapest way to export the garbage, a process that may take two to three weeks at least.

The trash will likely be exported to Europe or Africa, it added.

Lebanon was plunged in trash disposal crisis with the closure of the Naameh landfill in July.

Officials failed to find an alternative to the dump, resulting in garbage piling up on the streets of the country as experts warned of the environmental and health hazards of the crisis.