Lebanon cabinet fails to find solution to trash crisis
Lebanon’s cabinet fails to find a solution to the mounting trash crisis in country despite rising public anger over the issue.
After more than five hours of heated debate on Tuesday, the cabinet ministers who were divided on which would-be contractor to choose for the task, agreed to refer the pressing issue to a ministerial committee.
"Given the high prices (quoted by contractors), the council of ministers has decided not to approve the tenders and is charging the ministerial committee with finding alternatives," a cabinet statement said.
The agreement came shortly after six ministers from the Hezbollah resistance movement and its allies walked out of the Tuesday session in protest at the lack of cooperation by the other ministers to resolve the country's issue.
Hezbollah later issued a statement, saying it supported people's peaceful demonstrations against "endemic corruption."
The failure of the government to find a speedy solution to the country's worsening garbage crisis is interpreted by protesters as a sign of its dysfunction.
More than a hundred people were injured on Saturday, and dozens more sustained injuries in Sunday's clashes between Lebanese security forces and a large number of people protesting against the ongoing garbage crisis in the capital, Beirut. Demonstrations were also held on Tuesday.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said he is ready to meet with representatives of the growing protest movement known as “You Stink”.
Beirut’s main landfill has been closed down, leaving the city and its suburbs covered in trash with the stench of rotted garbage filling the streets, prompting the country’s Health Ministry to warn that the country will be on the brink of a “major health disaster” if the problem is not resolved rapidly.
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