Amr Diab's concert took place in Beirut on Aug. 19, after 12 years of absence. The concert was attended by around 20,000 fans. (Credit: Nabil Ismail)
BEIRUT — The agency that organized a concert for Egyptian singer Amr Diab on Saturday has cleaned up the site on Beirut's waterfront, Lebanon's caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassine announced Sunday, just hours after calling on the organizers to do so "at their own expense."
A video posted by the minister via X (formerly known as Twitter) on Sunday morning depicted the concert's premises littered with trash, empty cans and water bottles.
بدأ عمال متعهد النفايات في بيروت برفع المخلفات والنفايات من مكان حفل #عمرو_دياب
— Nasser Yassin (@nasseryassin) August 20, 2023
ودائرة النظافة العامة في بلدية بيروت تتابع العمل. https://t.co/JWX7VArT9L pic.twitter.com/EmJxqqMtq7
Diab's concert in Beirut took place on Aug. 19 and was attended by approximately 20,000 fans.
“We had drawn the attention of Beirut municipality to oblige the organizing company to remove the waste and clean the site at its own expense," the caretaker Environment Minister said on X, referring to Diab's concert.
"Accordingly, the Beirut governor should write down general hygiene reports against the violators, according to article 25 of Public Cleanliness Preservation Decree No. 8735, which stipulates that a person who commits a violation by throwing waste, papers, peels, empty cans, etc., or leaving them in front of his shop or house should be punished," Yassin added.
"The company organizing the event should be obliged to clean the site and adjacent streets at its own expense, and bear the cost of treatment and landfill under the principle of 'the polluter pays.'"
Later on Sunday, the minister announced in a tweet that "employees affiliated to the organizer have begun removing waste," noting that "the Directorate of Public Cleanliness within the Municipality of Beirut is monitoring the work."