Dialogue Session Shows No Glimpse of Solution to Trash Crisis

The eighth dialogue session convened at parliament on Monday after it tackled several pressing issues mainly the lingering trash crisis that saw the streets of the capital swirling with trash bags on Sunday.

Another session will be held next week on November 3.

However, Progressive Socialist party chief Walid Jumblat did not attend the session citing health reasons. Al-Mustabqal bloc leader Fouad Saniora, who was abroad, and Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb also did not attend.

On the other hand, Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel announced that he will suspend his participation in the sessions until the politicians agree on a solution for the “mounting”trash crisis.

MP Hagop Pakradounian said after the meeting: “The landfill of Bourj Hammoud is a red line. We have tolerated the trash for over 20 years.”

Al-Jadeed television meanwhile said Prime Minister Tammam Salam told Speaker Nabih Berri during the session that he is "willing to call a cabinet session if all political forces reach an agreement to resolve the garbage crisis."

Berri for his part expressed regret after the session over Kataeb's suspension of its participation in dialogue while noting that the party's move "stemmed from good intentions aimed at activating the work of institutions."

Streets in parts of Lebanon turned into rivers of garbage on Sunday as heavy rains washed through mountains of trash that have piled up during a months-long waste collection crisis.

Residents and activists posted photographs and video online showing water from torrential showers carrying accumulated waste down streets in the early morning outside Beirut and beyond.

On his way into the parliament, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon expressed pessimism at the cabinet's ability to solve the file, he said: “The cabinet is incapable to solve the trash file. We don't know if it has any future.”

Berri had sponsored the dialogue sessions among the main political parties to discuss a stalemate that has frozen government institutions for months.

D.A.

M.T.