Garbage dumped in sea off Lebanon sparks outrage

BEIRUT — A "mountain of garbage" dumped at sea off Beirut under a deal between the government and a company has sparked outrage in Lebanon, two years after mass protests over a waste crisis.

For the past 10 days, civil society groups have shared images of trucks carrying rubbish and tipping it into the Mediterranean, a process that is ongoing.

Activists say the waste from the "mountain of garbage" at Borj Hammoud in north Beirut is disposed of under an agreement between the government's Development and Reconstruction Council (CDR) and a private company.

"They are taking garbage from this mountain that has been there for 20 years... and throwing it into the sea," said Wadih Al Asmar, an activist from the "You Stink" campaign behind the protests in 2015.

Environment Minister Tarek Al Khatib on Tuesday confirmed the existence of an agreement between the CDR and a private firm to dump the waste at sea.

Khatib said he had sent letters to the CDR to "rectify" the situation and that he was trying to find the "best way to limit" the damage.

But activists vented their anger on social media, branding the situation "shameful".

"Waste is thrown into the open sea and the environment minister justifies it... he gives them the green light," said the You Stink campaign.

Asmar, the campaign activist, denounced the disposal of the garbage at sea without any treatment, saying it was "killing the marine ecosystem".

Lebanon experienced a major waste crisis in mid-2015, with garbage piling up in the streets of Beirut and its surroundings after the closure of the country's main landfill.

This crisis triggered mass protests, with many taking aim at politicians in a country that has suffered endemic corruption since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

In 2016, the government decided to reopen the landfill and to create two more dumps, one in Borj Hammoud next to the "mountain of garbage" whose stench fills the air in the capital's northern suburbs.
Meanwhile, the government decided to extend for another months a state of emergency in place since a 2015 extremist attack.

"President Beji Caid Essebsi decided on Wednesday to extend the state of emergency for four months starting from Thursday, June 15," president's office announced on Wednesday

The state of emergency has been in place since a November 2015 extremist bombing in Tunis that killed 12 presidential guards.

The Daesh terror group claimed the attack as well as bombings earlier in 2015 at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis and at a beach resort near Sousse that killed a total of 59 foreign tourists and a Tunisian guard.

They were part of a wave of extremist violence since a revolution toppled long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

The government has repeatedly renewed the state of emergency despite its assurances that security has improved in the North African state.

A source in the president's office, who asked not to be identified, said that after recent attacks claimed by Daesh in London and Manchester, "it's better to be vigilant".

The state of emergency gives much greater powers to the police and allows the banning of strikes and meetings likely to provoke "disorder", as well as measures "to ensure control of the press".

It also allows the interior ministry to place under house arrest anyone whose activities it deems a "danger for security or public order".

In recent weeks, the government has used the powers not just for counter-terrorism but also for a widely publicised "war on graft".

Ten businessmen are currently under house arrest on suspicion of corruption.