Outlaw trash haulers dump loads into sea in Lebanon
Daily Star
By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff
Monday, February 12, 2007
SIDON: About 50 truckloads of garbage transported in the last three days from
the Normandy landfill in Beirut to the Southern port city of Sidon have been
dumped directly into the sea, according to a source close to the issue.
Speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, the source said three
contractors from Sidon had deposited the garbage in the sea between the Sidon
dump and the Siniq bridge south of town.
"An agreement was signed between the company charged with treating the Normandy
dump and three contractors from Sidon to transport garbage to Sidon for $140
per truckload," the source said. "Waste was unloaded in five places, with one
truck throwing its load by the coast, near the Siniq bridge."
On Sunday, Sidon's municipality erected sand barriers in the area in a bid to
block passages the trucks had used to entered the town.
Sidon Mayor Abdel-Rahman Bizri issued a statement Sunday calling on security and
military bodies to "monitor Sidon's entrances after strange waste was smuggled
into the town."
"Some parties were transporting garbage from Normandy to the Chouf region of
Sibline, but for some reasons which we do not know yet, garbage was transported
to Sidon instead," Bizri said.
According to Bizri, "Jihad Arab, a contractor charged with the transportation
process from the Normandy dump, agreed to carry waste out of Sidon at his own
expense to various other licensed places situated outside of the area."
"Environmental and health safety are as important as security," Bizri said.
Bizri called for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for
transporting and dumping the garbage. The perpatrators should also by fined, he
said, "to prevent the reoccurrence of such a problem where environmental
conditions are exploited for financial benefits."
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