Arslan: We Won't Accept 'Solid Waste Landfill' in Choueifat

Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan declared Friday that the town of Choueifat will not agree to the establishment of any “solid waste” landfill within its boundaries.

“There is a big difference between a landfill for (all types of) garbage and one for non-recyclable and non-treatable waste,” Arslan pointed out in a tweet.

“We will not agree to the setting up of any solid waste landfill within the boundaries of the town of Choueifat,” Arslan declared, hinting that a landfill that exclusively accepts non-recyclable and non-treatable waste would be tolerated.

Sukleen, the firm handling waste management in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, has been criticized for straining the capacity of the Naameh site through land-filling recyclable and treatable garbage.

The closure of the Naameh landfill in July last year was behind the unprecedented waste management crisis in the country.

However, there was some optimism on Friday that a ministerial committee tasked with resolving the crisis would reach a solution to prevent the collapse of Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq told al-Mustaqbal daily that the committee “would hopefully today (Friday) resolve the garbage problem of Beirut which will be distributed to all areas.”

He said the solution would come due to the efforts exerted by al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri.

According to al-Mustaqbal, the ministerial committee's members agreed on Thursday to reactivate the Bourj Hammoud and Costa Brava dumps and to transport only the accumulated waste to the Naameh landfill.

On Wednesday, Arslan's envoy to the ministerial panel said the MP and Choueifat's residents had “agreed to one suggestion out of three that were proposed to us.”

“An agreement has been reached over two landfill sites amid an attempt to find a third site,” LBCI reported Wednesday, noting that “efforts are ongoing to find an alternative to the Costa Brava landfill and MP Talal Arslan has suggested utilizing a land lot in Choueifat.”

Rubbish has piled up on streets, beaches, mountain forests and river beds across Lebanon since the July closure of the Naameh landfill, triggering health and environmental concerns as well as street protests involving violent confrontations.

A plan to export the waste to Russia failed last month amid corruption allegations, and the government decided to resort to decentralization. The establishment of landfills in certain areas is still however facing obstruction by local officials and residents.

Y.R.

M.T.