Waste management company Sukleen said Monday it had stopped collecting garbage in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and won't resume until authorities secure a new dumping ground after Friday's closure of the Naameh landfill.
“We've stopped collecting garbage as of 9 pm [Sunday],” Sukleen Communications Manager Pascale Nassar told The Daily Star.
Street sweeping, however, was still ongoing, she added.
Nassar said Sukleen was waiting for an order from the Council for Development and Reconstruction, which was searching for another landfill.
Garbage has already started to pile up on the streets of Mount Lebanon after the Environment Ministry said Thursday evening it would divert waste away from the overfilled Naameh landfill in order to meet a July 17 deadline to retire the site.
The landfill, which was appointed to receive 2 million tons of waste but has instead taken over 15 million, used to be the main dump for Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said Sunday that he would raise the matter again at Thursday’s Cabinet session.
