Kfar Hazir Environmental Committee demands the closure of Chekka and Heri quarries due to health risks

BEIRUT - The Environmental Committee of Kfar Hazir called for the closure of the Chekka and Heri quarries and cement factories on Wednesday, claiming that the emissions put children at risk of serious illness and made the region “inhospitable”, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Here’s what we know:

    • The municipal environmental committee claimed that “emissions, including mercury and furan, from the coal and petrol powered quarries and cement factories are directly responsible for children having a rate of serious illness 3.5 times that of adults.”

    • The statement cited pediatrician Colonel Yaacoub Constantine Itani, who called on security officials in the region to heed the risks posed by the emissions which include “asthma, lung disease, attention deficit disorders, birth defects, and neurological diseases.” Itani had previously indicated that a number of children “from villages close to the factories” had died due to “unidentified diseases within weeks of their birth.”

    • The municipal environmental committee had previously raised the health concerns with former Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government in October 2020, asking the premier to not renew any contracts or issue any permits to maintain the factories operational.