A Ramco trash collection vehicle. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with Environment Minister Nasser Yassin to discuss a more sustainable plan for trash disposal, the NNA reports.
Here is what we know:
• Following the meeting, Minister Yassin said: “We discussed the issue of solid waste and the plan that we are working on for a more sustainable management [of trash].” He continued that “we are working to avoid a strike from workers of waste collection companies.”
• The companies' contracts are currently being managed by the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Yassin said, and will be amended with consideration of the depreciation of the Lebanese lira.
• “I will follow up on the issue with the Minister of Interior in order to avoid a crisis [of uncollected waste] on the street,” he added.
• On Wednesday, Ramco, the company contracted by the state to collect waste, said it asked the Council for Development and Reconstruction to launch a new tender and find another entity to replace it. In a statement, Ramco said authorities had not abided by the contract with CDR and the municipality of Beirut, “causing a huge financial loss” for the company.