Protective layers placed above the landfill in a currently closed cell at Costa Brava. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Once again, the municipality of Choueifat raised its voice on Thursday, calling on the authorities to fulfill their commitments regarding the management of the so-called "Costa Brava" landfill, located on the coast of this area south of Beirut, and threatened to take "decisive measures, including closure” of the site.
In Lebanon, the waste collection and treatment system in Beirut and Mount Lebanon relies on contracts signed by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) with private companies, one of which manages the Costa Brava landfill.
This site, like the Jdeideh landfill to the north of Beirut, is oversaturated, but the lack of a long-term solution means both are regularly expanded. As such, Costa Brava reopened in early May after expansion work that had been ongoing since the start of the year.
Municipalities hosting landfills are generally entitled to financial incentives and services, and the authorities had pledged to establish a composting plant in Choueifat and activate the sorting and recycling facility.
In this context, the municipality denounced “an unacceptable policy of indifference and ignorance” and “chronic injustice toward the town and its residents,” stating that “its patience has run out.”
In a statement, it announced it was ready to “move on to decisive measures, up to and including the permanent closure of the Costa Brava landfill” if its acquired rights continued to be ignored and if official commitments made to the municipality were not kept.
If the municipality's “rights” are not respected “without delay,” “the authorities concerned will have to take full responsibility” for the possible consequences of any escalation measures, the statement warned.
