Lebanon cabinet approves plan to end trash crisis

Lebanon's cabinet on Sept.9 approved a plan to end a trash crisis that sparked unprecedented protests targeting the country's stagnant political class.

After a marathon emergency session, as protesters once again took to the streets in Beirut, Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayeb said a deal had been reached.
 
"Tonight the cabinet approved a path out of the crisis," he said, some six hours after the ministers began talks.
 
The plan incorporates a key demand of activists -- the decentralisation of waste management, with municipalities receiving funds to manage the issue locally.
 
But it also includes proposals that may be more controversial.
 
It envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar region and the eastern border area, into sanitary landfills capable of receiving trash for more than a year.
 
It also seeks to temporarily reopen the Naameh landfill, the country's largest, which was closed in July, sparking the trash collection crisis.
 
Activists and residents of Akkar have strongly opposed the creation of a landfill there, and those living around Naameh have insisted the site will not be reopened for any reason.
 
Shehayeb countered that Naameh would be reopened for seven days only to allow disposal of waste that has piled up in Beirut and its surroundings.
         
With nowhere to take the garbage, it has been temporarily dumped in empty lots, on roadsides, mountainsides and in riverbeds.
 
The minister warned that collecting the trash before rains began was essential to avoid contamination.
 
Shehayeb said other sites including an old landfill outside Beirut and a waste treatment plant in southern Sidon would also be used under the...