Beirut Trash Crisis: Naameh Landfill Site Reopened after Eight Months

Lebanese officials have unveiled a plan tackle the eight-month Beirut garbage crisis.

A landfill site will be temporarily opened and two new sites will be set up in a bid to end the crisis over uncollected trash in the capital.

Piles of rotting refuse in Beirut’s streets have prompted a mass anti-government movement.

Officials say the new move will solve the problem for the next four years while a permanent solution is found.

However, protesters have gathered in Beirut, threatening to paralyze the country from March 14.

The crisis began with the closure of Beirut’s main landfill site at Naameh in July 2015 with no alternative in place.

During hot summer weather, piles of rubbish grew so large that residents resorted to burning it on the streets, releasing toxic fumes.

The trash has since piled up on beaches, in mountain forests and along river beds.

Protesters blame the crisis on political paralysis and corruption and set up a “You Stink” movement.

In 2015, many took to the streets, leading to violent clashes with police.

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said on March 12 that the Naameh landfill would reopen for two months “to take in the rubbish that has already piled up”.

Speaking after an emergency cabinet session, Ramzi Jreij said that two other “temporary” landfills would be opened in the city’s suburbs.

During the meeting, about 3,000 demonstrators from the You Stink movement marched to central Beirut demanding a permanent solution to the crisis.

“The final warning has been sent, and we are now in a new phase. On Monday we will paralyze the country,” protest organizers said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the group posted pictures on its Facebook page of mountains of rubbish festering across Lebanon.

One video filmed by a drone showed bags of rubbish stretching for miles like a flowing river.

The footage also mocked Lebanon’s tourism ministry over a video it had commissioned on the country’s natural beauty.