Shehayyeb on Waste Plan: In the End, Government Must Find Solution
Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb stressed on Friday that the trash crisis must be solved and that the “state must find a solution in the end,” in light of the stances of activists and municipalities rejecting the minister's waste management plan proposal that was agreed by the government.
“The government must find a solution in the end. I have worked with the committee tasked on this plan to set ecological and scientific plans to be implemented as quick as possible,” said Shehayyeb in an interview to the An Nahar daily.
“The plan was presented to the organizations and the municipalities' union and it will be discussed with all parties rejecting the proposal," he stated.
He stressed that the Naameh landfill will not reopen until all the other suggested landfills do as well “everybody must be part of the solution, no one shall carry the burden alone."
On the other hand, sources close to PM Tammam Salam stressed the necessity to implement the administrative decision on the ground saying: “Implementing the plan is the responsibility of the related administrative and security authorities,” al-Joumhouria daily reported.
“Applying the stages as approved in the plan are not random but are the result of a consultation process with the civil committees, experts and representatives of concerned groups and those that claimed responsibility in the civil activities.”
The government approved in a marathon session late Wednesday, a waste management plan proposed by Shehayyeb.
The plan calls for reopening the Naameh landfill, which was closed in mid-July, for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
It also envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into sanitary landfills capable of receiving trash for more than a year.
Activists, municipalities and residents rejected the decision and took to the street in the northern region of Akkar to condemn the government's decision.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/189556 |