Garbage ends up on streets after closure of Arnoun dump
By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff
Thursday, January 11, 2007
NABATIEH: The head of the Confederation of Municipalities Union in Shqif on
Wednesday warned residents of villages in the Nabatieh area against piling
their garbage in the street following the closure of the Arnoun dump. The dump,
closed at the end of 2006, was notorious for receiving 100 tons of waste a day.
Serious environmental concerns had been raised due to the dump being
precariously perched atop a hill next to the Khardali River.
"We closed the dump because it is harmful [to the environment] ... I warned
mayors of 28 villages and towns two months ago of its dangers and asked them
not to throw garbage there by the end of 2006," Samih Halal told The Daily
Star.
Halal urged the government in Beirut to find alternative means of disposal for
the region's waste.
"The state should find a location where Shqif's municipalities could bury their
waste," he said. "Otherwise it should set up a waste-separation plant."
"The most important point today is to deal with the current situation after the
dump was closed," he added. "Piles of waste have started to appear in Nabatieh
and the surrounding areas due to a lack of dumps."
Acting Arnoun Mayor Rafik Hamdan said the decision to close the area dump was
made after repeated charges of negligence were leveled against the disposal
company responsible for waste collection in the area.
"The dump caught fire many times and the company was totally careless," Hamdan
said.
Environmental studies recently conducted in Arnoun said the location of the dump
was "inappropriate," he added.
"The dump is close to the Khardali River, which made the municipality of Arnoun
file a lawsuit against the [waste disposal] company," the acting mayor said.
"We have had enough of bearing the trash of around 30 villages for the past
four years."