Two planes on the tarmac at Beirut's airport. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Planes taking off and landing at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) are increasingly encountering birds near the runways. This dangerous phenomenon prompted Parliament on Aug. 7 to instruct the Agriculture Ministry to take "immediate measures" to close farms and slaughterhouses within a five-kilometer radius of the airport's perimeter. The decision provoked the ire of unions representing the poultry and cattle farming sectors, who feel they are being unfairly targeted and cite the Costa Brava coastal landfill and pollution of the Ghadir River as the main causes of the proliferation of birds near the airport. Ecosystem troubles Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Lebanon; illicit fishing blamed "The state is unable to resolve these two issues and is attacking the private sector," states...
Planes taking off and landing at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) are increasingly encountering birds near the runways. This dangerous phenomenon prompted Parliament on Aug. 7 to instruct the Agriculture Ministry to take "immediate measures" to close farms and slaughterhouses within a five-kilometer radius of the airport's perimeter. The decision provoked the ire of unions representing the poultry and cattle farming sectors, who feel they are being unfairly targeted and cite the Costa Brava coastal landfill and pollution of the Ghadir River as the main causes of the proliferation of birds near the airport. Ecosystem troubles Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Lebanon; illicit fishing blamed "The state is unable to resolve these two issues and is attacking the private sector," states...
