The announcement came in a news conference to declare the end of the call for bids held at the Council for Development and Reconstruction office. “I met at noon… the ministerial committee responsible for monitoring the call for tenders of the solid waste management sector in Lebanon, and I announced the rejection of any offers,” Minister Mohammad Machnouk said. Lebanon was divided into six districts, and offers for each district were submitted separately. Beirut and its southern and northern suburbs, named District 1, did not attract any tenders, Machnouk announced, and that was also the case with District 3, including southern Mount Lebanon with Baabda, Aley and Chouf. Little interest was also shown in District 4, which includes North Lebanon and Akkar, and in districts 5 and 6, including the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon, respectively. Only the areas of Metn, Kesrouan and Byblos, classified as District 2, will witness competition between companies, with three offers being submitted, he explained. As a result of the low numbers, the ministry made the decision to not discuss any offers in all but District 2, given the absence of any competition. The three offers in the area were all joint ventures. Boutique, Indevco and Pizano submitted the first offer, while the second was submitted by Lafajette, Khoury and Danico, and the third by Araco and Soreco, he said. They all met the basic requirements and were thus accepted in the competition. Concerning the other districts, Machnouk said it was up to the Cabinet to decide whether new call for tenders should be held in districts 1 and 3, where no companies showed interest. “The problem might be related to the landfills from one side, and I think the companies chose not to make any offers in Beirut because of the large quantities [of waste] or the complications of its call for bids,” he said. “It is their right to try or to not enter the call for tenders if they don’t find a way.” Even Sukleen, the company managing Beirut’s waste since 1994, did not apply for the call for tenders in District 1. He said he received a number of letters from companies who had shown serious interest but then decided to avoid the competition. The minister said he might raise the matter in the next regular Cabinet meeting on Thursday. The Daily Star