Since April, Lebanon’s waste crisis has shifted to the country’s northern governorate, after the closure of the Adwa landfill in the Denniyeh area, which was receiving waste from Zgharta, Koura, Minieh, Denniyeh, Bcharre and Batroun.
Trash has been piled in the streets for weeks in these areas after a consensus stumbled upon an alternative landfill, especially in light of popular pressure against turning towns and villages into dumps.
The main political forces have recently agreed on the transfer of waste to the area of Jabal Terbol in the district of Minieh-Denniyeh, stirring anger among residents, who staged a sit-in and blocked roads on Wednesday, in conjunction with the beginning of the removal of trash bags under tight security by the ISF and the Lebanese Army.
The National News Agency (NNA) reported that citizens staged a sit-in in front of the Tripoli Serail, in protest against the development of a landfill in Terbol, coinciding with a meeting there chaired by the Governor of the North Judge Ramzi Nohra, to explain the waste management plan in the north, prepared by the Ministry of Environment.
The protesters announced their refusal to open a new landfill in Trebol, because of its negative effects on groundwater and public health.
Sources of the Ministry of Environment told Asharq Al-Awsat that work was underway to move the waste to the specified site in the Jabal Terbol area as a temporary, and not a permanent solution.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Environment Minister Fadi Jreissati talked about imminent solutions to the crisis in the North.
“We are facing opposition whenever we choose a location for a landfill, but we have to go for a less risky solution because there is no ecological solution without damage,” he said.
The minister stressed that every solution would face opposition, adding that the trash issue could not be a platform for political bickering.
