The meeting chaired Monday by caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, which brought together several MPs and elected officials. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin)
A meeting chaired by caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin at his ministry's headquarters on Monday narrowly averted the Federation of Southern Suburbs Municipalities' closure of the Costa Brava landfill (south of Beirut) to waste from three districts: the Chouf, Aley and Baabda (southern Mount Lebanon).
The government landfill, which falls within the perimeter of Choueifat (Iqlim al-Kharroub south of Beirut), is intended to serve the entire southern suburbs and Mount Lebanon, and its maximum capacity is not expected to be reached before next June, according to information from the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR).
But since Dec. 21, 2023, the municipalities of the southern suburbs, joined by the municipality of Choueifat, have been threatening to close the road to trucks from the three aforementioned districts as of Jan. 8, claiming that the daily influx of large volumes of waste from these areas is shortening the life of the landfill. According to these elected representatives, the landfill should be reserved exclusively for their municipalities.
During the meeting at the ministry, a compromise was reached, according to MP Ghayath Yazbeck (Lebanese Forces), who told L'Orient-Le Jour that the landfill would remain open to all regions, provided that efforts are made to reduce the volume coming from the three specified districts, such as reopening the Amroussieh sorting center adjacent to the landfill (which has been disused and closed for years) and seeking alternative solutions, notably in Aley. An imminent waste crisis in the three districts has thus been narrowly averted.
