Ibrahim Kanaan to government: 'Impossible to expand Jdeideh landfill'

The Metn MP, Ibrahim Kanaan, stressed Wednesday in a letter addressed to the government that “it is impossible, according to all official reports, to expand the government landfill in Jdeideh,” north of Beirut, as a Cabinet meeting devoted in part to the issue of waste began at 11 a.m.

The Jdeideh landfill, operated by a private company on behalf of the state since 2016, receives waste from northern Mount Lebanon and part of Beirut, averaging more than 1,000 tons per day. The Costa Brava landfill, south of Beirut, receives waste from the southern suburbs of the capital and southern Mount Lebanon.

The issue of expanding the Jdeideh landfill is considerable, given that this site remains the only place where waste from a vast region is still being buried, in the absence of alternatives. The waste file has suffered from Lebanon's economic and financial crisis since 2019.

In a letter to the government, the parliamentarian stressed that “the residents of the region can no longer bear the ongoing environmental and health disaster on the northern Metn coastline, in contradiction with all government decisions, promises and commitments since 2016 until today.” He summarized: “We will oppose any plan to prolong this situation.”