Shehayyeb: Let Us Give the Waste Plan a Chance
Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb stressed on Monday that only partnership would guarantee the success of the committee tasked with resolving the two-month long waste crisis.
“Let's give it a chance before it's too late,” he told reporters in a press conference following the meeting of the Parliamentary Environment Committee.
“If it was not for the street mobility, the (waste management) plan would not have seen the light,” he said assuring that “the file cannot be delayed anymore because the consequences are not predictable.”
The Minister highlighted the people's fears that the temporary plan he set to solve the crisis could turn into a permanent one.
“It is an issue of trust. People fear that the temporary plans could become permanent, and their fears are righteous.
“They fear that political interferences could meddle here,” he stressed, but added that we cannot accept refusal for refusal sake.
Shehayyeb's plan to solve the two-month trash crisis 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.
“The selected dumpsters will be turned into hygienic landfills,” assured Shehayyeb.
After he announced his plan last week, the civil society and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Burj Hammoud protested against the step.
“If we fail to solve this file, then there is no need to look into any other issue in the country,” stated the Minister.
D.A.
G.K.
Source: Naharnet
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