Some officials resort, in order to justify the choices that they adopt, to say that it exists in America, or Japan or Europe. For example, one of their arguments is the existence of waste incinerators in the Netherlands, or Switzerland, or in Japan, and that’s enough to be convinced and to accept and embrace the adoption of waste incinerators in Lebanon. Others say that many of the countries of the world build dams on their rivers to provide quantities of water needed for different sectors of the economy in their own countries, so as to justify the policy of construction of dams in Lebanon. They think that this justification and this imitation to other countries is enough to have the strongest logic, and to convince everyone that they are making safe choices. The overthrow of processors and solutions, policies and strategies, supported in certain countries, to adopt them in Lebanon, is a lack of wisdom, and a disregard of Lebanese competencies and capabilities in various fields. We will not discuss here, the validity of those options in their own countries, if they are compatible with sustainable development strategies, or it interferes with it. But what concerns us is to point out that copying those options in Lebanon is an unacceptable logic.
The policies and strategies, and major issues or options to address, such as the issue of waste management in Lebanon, or water resources management, or the development of energy and diversity of sources, should be examined in the light of the factual data in Lebanon, and in the light of its own features, and by solutions and strategies that are best suited to its circumstances and needs, and the adoption of options that fit with the actual needs of Lebanon, and the extent of integration with other sectors , in order to achieve the minimum acceptable standards of sustainable development .
On the subject of waste incinerators, for example: could one of the promoters of this option in Lebanon lists to us what are the similarities between Lebanon and the Netherlands, or Switzerland, or Austria or France or Japan? Did they prepare a depth study about the experiences of these countries, and the fact of their policies and strategies regarding waste management? Did these promoters know that Netherlands apply strategies of sorting, recycling and manufacturing to recover the value of more than 80% from the amount of the generated waste and burn only 20% from the residues of waste? Did they know with any circumstances the burning should be realized? Under any specifications and any standards for environmental protection? With which complicated techniques to control the pollution resulting from these incinerators? Under which strict legislation is this done? And with the existence of which institutional systems for control and monitoring and following-up? We call on those responsible to respect minds and energies of the Lebanese people, and to place the major options in the areas of development in a national debate, in which, all intellectual cadres in our country will participate, to achieve the adoption of appropriate options and the harmonious and sustainable development.
