Abou Faour Says Airport Storage Areas are 'Execution Chambers'
Health Minister Wael Abou Faour described on Tuesday food storage areas at the Rafik Hariri International Airport as a “barn” and “death chambers for the citizens' health.”
“You feel you are entering a dump when you go into the depots,” he said during a joint press conference with Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Zoaiter.
“The fish, meat, medicine and garbage are placed side-by-side inside the shipping containers at the airport. Some products have been expired since 1995,” he said.
The minister wondered how the workers were able to function under such conditions, saying he suffered from a severe headache because of the bed smell.
“This is a barn and not a storage area,” he said.
“The more we submerge into the food safety file, the more we realize we are living on a pile of corruption,” Abou Faour told reporters.
Zoaiter also described the situation as “disgusting,” saying it “poses a danger on the lives of humans.”
The two ministers held the conference after they toured the airport's warehouses.
Abou Faour has been launching a campaign against institutions that have violated food safety standards.
His campaign has so far led to the closure of slaughterhouses, restaurants, dairy factories and other institutions.
In another related development, Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb said the authorities would ban the export of any product that has violated safety standards.
“We will remain in our mission. The inspection will not stop,” he said in a press conference.
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