Jumblat Calls for End of Political, Sectarian Calculations over Waste Treatment Dispute

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has called for the end of political and sectarian calculations in the government after the cabinet members failed to strike a deal on the treatment of solid waste.

“The road to the Naameh landfill will close on January 17,” said a decisive Jumblat in comments to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Friday.

The Naameh landfill that lies in the Shouf district south of Beirut should be closed in accordance with a decision taken by the government last year.

Jumblat backs its closure despite the objection of several other parties represented in the cabinet.

On Thursday, the cabinet failed to reach an agreement on the treatment of solid waste, compelling officials to issue warnings that streets would be flooded with trash because the contract with Sukleen, which is the company responsible for collecting dumps in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, expires on January 17.

The PSP chief rejected suggestions to treat solid waste only in Mount Lebanon, saying the government has received a proposal to establish a landfill that lies near Rafik Hariri International Airport to treat waste collected from Beirut and its southern suburbs.

According to the plan proposed by Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq, Lebanon would be divided into five blocs to treat solid waste.

The plan requests the Council of Development and Reconstruction to launch tenders to sign contracts with companies to collect and treat solid waste in several areas.

G.K.

H.K.