The main illegal dump in Akkar (far north), in Srar, continues to burn for the fourth consecutive day, releasing toxic fumes which affect the entire neighborhood. According to our correspondent in North Lebanon, Michel Hallak, six fire trucks fought against the fire during the day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, trailers of earth were dumped to cover the blaze.
The owner of the land on which the landfill was built (the Yassine family), who is also the head of the al-Amana al-Douwaliya company responsible for the collection and transport of some 250 to 300 tonnes of daily waste coming from most villages in Akkar, brought bulldozers on Wednesday to turn over and cover the burning waste. “Hoping that the operation can put out the fire by tomorrow (Thursday),” adds Michel Hallak.
Monday evening, around ten people from the villages of Srar and Qachlak (nearby) were hospitalized for breathing difficulties. The fumes from wild waste incinerations are extremely toxic, due to the different materials incinerated, the waste being buried on the site without any prior sorting or treatment. This landfill, which does not have insulation or a fume treatment system, is the largest in the mohafazat of Akkar. It is located on private land of more than two million square meters and is accredited by 90% of the municipalities of the 133 villages of mohafazat to receive their household waste.
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Fires of this type in illegal dumps are commonplace, and are used to reduce the volume of waste to increase the storage capacity of the site, our correspondent specifies. Abdallah Sakr, member of the municipal council of Qachlak, does not have words strong enough to denounce the negligence and carelessness of the site operators. According to Michel Hallak who interviewed him, he accuses them of “paying no attention to the rights of the inhabitants to a healthy life and to health, giving importance only to profit”.
“We ask the security forces to open an investigation into the causes of the fire, and to carry out, with the residents, a census of the damage in the vicinity of the site, on agricultural fields, trees, animals and even beehives,” continued Abdallah Sakr. He also asked the Ministry of the Environment, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance, to expropriate the land on which the dump is located in order to rehabilitate it and pave the way for more environmentally friendly exploitation.
On Tuesday, outgoing Minister of the Environment Nasser Yassine said in a statement that “efforts are moving forward to resolve the waste crisis in the Akkar region.” He revealed the possibility of a solution, in cooperation with the World Bank, and with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to finance the rehabilitation and operation of the sorting plant and the creation of a health unit in Srar.
The main illegal dump in Akkar (far north), in Srar, continues to burn for the fourth consecutive day, releasing toxic fumes which affect the entire neighborhood. According to our correspondent in North Lebanon, Michel Hallak, six fire trucks fought against the fire during the day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, trailers of earth were dumped to cover…
