Lebanon’s waste crisis threatens to flare again

The country’s rubbish woes are not yet over as tensions simmer over the government's decision to build two new landfills near the sea, Josh Wood reports

A general view shows packed rubbish bags in Jdeideh, Beirut, Lebanon February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

BEIRUT // In Lebanon, where the words “sur mer” are often tacked onto beach clubs and restaurants to insinuate the sophistication and pristine shores of the French Riviera, the latest use of the words takes a different approach.

“Zbele sur mer” – or, rubbish on the sea, in Arabic and French – reads a sign strung up on a cinder block wall in east Beirut’s downtrodden industrial district.

As the sign suggests, Lebanon’s rubbish woes are not yet over.

One year ago, the forced closure of the largest landfill in the country left Beirut’s streets flooded with rubbish that blocked traffic, stung nostrils and raised fears of a widespread public health crisis.

The crisis spawned street protests – at times attracting tens of thousands of participants – that quickly morphed into a movement against the government, its sectarian parties, inherent corruption, chronic mismanagement and a failure to provide basic services.

Rubbish was eventually taken off the streets to makeshift dumps, and the country’s largest landfill was temporarily reopened.

The government has also arranged for two new landfills to be built on the edges of Beirut, but critics say they pose significant environmental and public safety concerns.

One is situated on the sea in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud, tucked between Beirut’s port and a closed landfill. The second is located in the Costa Brava area south of the city, also on the sea, and sits across the street from one of the runways at Rafik Hariri International Airport. Activists worry that rubbish will leak into the sea, potentially affecting the livelihoods of fisherman and contaminating fish from the sea.

The Costa Brava site adds additional worries as it is close to the airport. Landfills attract birds – and many birds near airports increase the risk of bird strikes, which can damage or bring down aircraft.

Bassam Sabbagh, head of urban environment science at the ministry of environment, agreed the seaside dumps were not ideal but “the best we can do”.

“We have to look on the brighter side that we now have two landfills and waste will not pile up in the street,” he said.

Mr Sabbagh said concerns about waste leaking into the sea were unwarranted.

Last month, members of Kataeb – the Lebanese Christian party leading the opposition – reportedly attacked construction workers at the Bourj Hammoud landfill with sticks to dissuade them from continuing with the project. A representative who spoke with The National denied the claims.

Either way, Kataeb protesters have since successfully halted construction at the site by removing the keys from construction vehicles. In response, the municipality closed off access to a neighbouring temporary dump on Wednesday last week in an effort to pressure the protesters into allowing construction to resume.

Mr Sabbagh warned that if the situation does not change, the streets of Beirut and surrounding areas could again accumulate rubbish like last year.

Already, pictures of rubbish piling up in streets are floating around social media.

Kataeb says its opposition is not rooted in sectarianism, despite only having a protest camp at the predominantly Christian Bourj Hammoud area, and not at Costa Brava.

“This is not a Christian problem, or a Druze problem or a Muslim problem – it’s a national problem. Our political discourse is not sectarian,” said Marwan Abdallah, the coordinator of Kataeb’s foreign relations office last week.

Mr Abdallah said Kataeb would like to rally against the Costa Brava landfill as well, but added that going there as a Christian party could spark trouble as it is dominated by another sect and some people retain a “civil war mentality”.

Whether or not their protests are rooted in sectarianism, Kataeb remains the kind of party that protests last year railed against, and is dividing activist ranks now.

Kataeb played a major role in Lebanon’s civil war, with its militia – like other groups – carrying out massacres. In more recent times, its leaders have called for federalisation in Lebanon, which would split the country largely along religious lines.

“We do not believe that their refusal of the Bourj Hammoud [landfill] is about caring about the health of the people, because if that was true, it should be on a national level and not only a local level,” said a leader of You Stink – the movement that led anti-rubbish and anti-government protests last year – who asked not to be named.

While Kataeb says they are open to non-party activists joining their protest, the You Stink leader said his group was against “people who used to be warlords and are now warlords in time of peace”.

Still, some activists are responding to Kataeb’s calls.

Josephine Zgheib joined the rubbish protests early last year, months before the larger street protests emerged. For Mrs Zgheib, the crisis might do something that years of instability, long running shortages of water and electricity and all the other failures of the country have not – force her out of the country. “I believe that if this (the completion of the Bourj Hammoud landfill) happens, 100 per cent we will leave the country. Because you will not eat healthy, you will not breathe healthy ...”

Activists want a waste management approach that increases recycling – not hastily-built landfills on the sea. Both Kataeb and You Stink advocate increased recycling and composting.

But Mr Sabbagh, the ministry of environment official, says implementing such measures could take decades, if not more. It would involve commitment from the government, the population and inculcating a culture of environmental awareness. In Lebanon, where so many other problems occupy the minds of the population, it does not seem realistic.

“You cannot ask people to sort [rubbish when] you still have explosions and you still have the instability we are living in,” he said. “This is not acceptable.”

[e-mail]​