Reports: Exporting Trash Sole Item on Cabinet Agenda

A cabinet session is scheduled to convene on Monday to tackle the thorny trash management file and the possibility of its exportation, amid reports predicting its failure due to the secrecy engulfing the details of the plan and the cost entailed.

Exporting the trash is the sole item on the cabinet's agenda that will be held at the Grand Serail. Prime Minister Tammam Salam had stressed to his visitors on Sunday that no other items are listed on the agenda in order to avoid political controversies that could hamper the implementation of the plan, al-Mustaqbal daily reported.

“I hope that we would be able to end this file,” he told the daily, adding: “I am not optimistic nor pessimistic.”

Lebanon has been suffering from a waste management crisis since July when the Naameh landfill that receives the trash of Beirut and Mount Lebanon closed.

The results of the session are not guaranteed due to the secrecy engulfing the details of the exportation plan, ministerial sources told An Nahar daily on condition of anonymity.

They said that the identity of the companies and the cost of the exportation remain unrevealed in addition to the sources of funding, the duration of the deportation plan and whether it is a permanent or temporary measure.

Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi described the session as “not matching the standards because the ministers were supposed to get notified about the timing of the session 72 hours in advance. That is why we fear that the session would end up discussing issues without finding solutions that we are all eager for.”

Furthermore, the prime minister will not include the issue of Lebanon's joining the Islamic alliance that was formed by Saudi Arabia, nor will he accept any discussions in that regard during the session, the Kuwait daily al-Anba reported.

Salam will not include the controversial file of Lebanon's joining the Islamic alliance but plans to hold a separate session for that purpose if any of the ministers brought it up during today's session, added al-Anba.

Saudi Arabia unveiled last week a coalition of 35 countries from across the Islamic and Arab world that is aimed at confronting “terrorism.”

The announcement that Lebanon joined the alliance sparked objections in the country, with some officials saying that they were not informed of such a measure.

D.A.

M.T.