(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — As if 14 months without a president wasn’t enough, Lebanon has turned into a giant trash mound since July 17, after political quarrels have halted trash collection.
The Lebanese cabinet has failed to agree on a solution for the country’s growing garbage crisis, postponing discussion until next week as trash continues to pile up on the streets.
Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk estimated the amount of trash to be at 22,000 tons — and growing.
“It’s like a domino,” Lucien Bourjeily, a social activist, told The National. “It’s one more thing on top of everything else in this country: No electricity, no water, no proper internet, no roads, corruption and…there’s no president and then you have the garbage.”
Sukleen, the main company in charge of collecting trash, stopped its work last week amid a dispute over the country’s largest trash dump.
The government is searching for alternatives to the Naame landfill south of Beirut, which was closed down on July 17. Naame residents have protested the landfill since it opened in 1997.
Earlier this year, the government agreed that the landfill would be shut down in July. But they never agreed on an alternative plan to handle the massive amounts of garbage produced by Beirut and surrounding areas.
The mountains of garbage have overtaken sidewalks and empty lots, causing traffic delays and strong odors in Beirut-area neighborhoods.
Protestors took to the streets of Downtown Beirut on Saturday, holding signs that read, “Clean up the trash in the parliament.”
“In Beirut, it’s only been four or five days of garbage and people already can’t take it. We have been dealing with Lebanon’s trash for the last 17 years,” said Youssef Halabi, a resident of Aramoun village near the landfill.
“We can’t open our windows because of the gases coming off the dump,” the 28-year-old told the AFP news agency. “I’ve invited ministers to come to my place and see if they can tolerate it.”
Instead of extending meetings until a decision is made, Lebanese officials decided to postpone any decision until next week, allowing for several more tons of trash to pile on Beirut’s streets.