Instead, according to Aridi, Machnouk proposed cutting the amount of waste that is sent to Naameh to 600 tons per day, a plan categorically rejected by the delegation. “They dismissed our opinions,” Aridi said. “Before they had a plan, now they have none.” Hours after the ill-fated meeting, the delegation issued a statement calling for a protest to be held on July 17 “so that we may apply the ministerial decision that promised the closure of the landfill on this date.” July 17 is the date when Sukleen’s waste management contract is set to expire and is also the day the landfill is due to be closed. The statement also accused the government of breaking its promise to close the site. The government assured residents of the Naameh area that the landfill would be shut down in July, after they held a protest last year barring Sukleen trucks from dumping waste in the overfilled site. Once again, residents and local officials in Naameh are threatening to bar access to the facility if the government extends Sukleen’s waste-management contract. Last year’s demonstration forced Sukleen to stop collecting garbage from the streets of Beirut for a week. Aridi said some suggested postponing the protest to July 20, after Eid al-Fitr, but no final decision has been made in this regard. The mayors also rejected the minister’s reasoning that there was no alternative to the Naameh landfill at present, arguing that municipalities were able to handle the task. An aide to Machnouk told The Daily Star the minister was not commenting on the issue at this time, but would hold a news conference to announce his position next week. It remains unclear how the Cabinet, which is not slated to meet until July 23, can issue a decision to extend the deadline to close the dump. Finding sites to process, compost and dispose of waste has proven difficult for the Environment Ministry, which after a year of searching could not locate a municipality to host the new landfill. Instead, the Cabinet announced in its first decree this year that it would issue a call for tenders to manage solid waste across the country, but it failed to attract a single firm for Beirut and its suburbs. The new company was asked to collect garbage and dump it in a landfill other than Naameh. The Naameh landfill was meant to be a temporary solution but successive governments have kept postponing its closure. Over the years, Sukleen has filled the site well beyond its capacity. It was originally designed to receive 2 million tons of waste but instead has taken 15 million tons. Ajwad Ayache, an activist with Close Naameh Landfill, said residents in the area were already preparing for a “peaceful” sit-in next week. “Unfortunately I see no other solution to this aching problem.” Residents of the area have long complained of the health and environmental hazards posed by dump. “We cannot breathe, we cannot open our windows, that’s why our decision is final,” Ayache said. “This time is going to be different from last year,” he added. “No one can fool us anymore.” – Additional reporting by Nazih Osseiran The Daily Star
