Report: Trash Crisis Solution Not Final, Exportation Costs Still Kept Secret

Clear information on the actual cost of exporting Lebanon's trash is still unrevealed, pointing to the possibility that a final decision on its deportation has not been finalized, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

“Reports are still reticent on the cost of exporting the trash, which indicates that the issue of financing is still on the table and has not been settled,” unnamed ministers told the daily.

There are some question marks on the possibility of holding a cabinet session soon to tackle the issue, they added.

The cabinet is seeking to close the trash management file before the year ends. To that end, Prime Minister Tammam Salam held a meeting at the Grand Serail with Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and President of the Council of Development and Reconstruction Nabil al-Jisr.

Shehayyeb had reassured after the meeting that the waste that has been accumulating in random sites since July will be removed, describing reports of hefty costs as exaggerated.

“Another meeting is expected to be held on Thursday,” disclosed Shehayyeb to the daily, adding that “further clarifications are needed,” and that “the file has some legal, technical, financial and infrastructure aspects.”

“The process of exporting garbage starts in Karantina and Amrousiyeh and ends at the (Beirut) port. We did not have such a mechanism in place and we will study it with the port's administration and the head of land and maritime transport, Abdul Hafiz al-Qaissi,” the minister had said.

Lebanon has been suffering from a waste management crisis since the closure of the Naameh landfill in July.

None of the plans suggested over a five-month period to end the crisis succeeded over disputes between various officials, leaving piles of waste on the streets and random dumps throughout the country.

M.T.

D.A.