Change and Reform Slams 'Worse Than Sukleen' Garbage Exportation Plan

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday slammed a garbage exportation plan adopted Monday by the cabinet as “worse than Sukleen,” the waste management firm whose contract with the Lebanese state expired in July.

The resolution, described as “temporary” by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, was passed despite the objections of the bloc's ministers and their Kataeb Party colleagues.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, Change and Reform noted that passing such a decision amid “the objections of two main components of the government” violates “the decision-taking mechanism that was agreed on” regarding the work of the cabinet amid a presidential vacuum.

“The Lebanese must know that one ton of garbage will cost around $222,” the bloc noted.

“What are the sources of funding? What are the exportation destinations? Did a call for tenders take place? Did we receive any proposals?” Change and Reform asked in its statement, which was recited by former labor minister Salim Jreissati.

“The solution that replaced Sukleen is worse than Sukleen itself,” the bloc added, stressing that Sukleen must be “held accountable” over its handling of the waste management file in the past 20 years.

Change and Reform also underlined that the municipalities' revenues from the mobile phone firms must not be used to fund the garbage exportation plan.

As for accusations that the bloc is obstructing the work of the cabinet, the bloc emphasized that it is not putting hurdles bur rather “improving the mechanism of taking decisions amid a presidential vacuum.”

Salam announced after the cabinet session on Monday that the pressing need to "end this nightmare" forced the government to resort to the garbage exportation option until a more lasting solution could be found.

“This is a temporary and transitional solution and I hope it will be a lesson to everyone on the need to avoid political bickering … We are amidst organic, household and municipal waste, but we are also suffering from 'political garbage',” the PM said.

The cabinet session was accompanied by a protest outside the Grand Serail by civil society activists.

Denouncing the manner in which the government has handled the waste management file, the activists warned authorities against “approving the exportation of garbage or hiking gasoline prices.”

“This would mean that corruption has not ended,” the activists noted.

They had long called for an eco-friendly solution to the garbage crisis that involves more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills and a bigger role for municipalities.

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 government's failure to find alternatives led to the piling up of garbage on the streets and in random locations, which raised health and environmental concerns and sparked unprecedented street protests against the entire political class.

Y.R.