Municipalities and factories in Lebanon were given a four-month ultimatum to stop dumping waste in the Litani River, director-general of the river authority, Nasser Nasrallah, was quoted by the Dailt Star newspaper as saying Friday.
“Municipalities and factories should dispose of their domestic and industrial waste in special dumps instead of throwing them in the river,” he told a news conference at the authority.
According to Nasrallah, the factories generate “all types of chemical and biological waste and dump it in the river, said the paper.
“These non-biodegradable chemical and solid wastes have been seeping into the river and ground reservoirs for a quarter of a century now,” he said.
Nasrallah devised a three-step plan which he described as “vital” to restoring the environmental balance in the region.
“Chemicals produced by factories have to be contained in one area,” he said. “Solid waste, on the other hand, has to be dumped or burned appropriately.”
Nasrallah, said the paper, also listed the problem of the lack of a suitable waste dump or recycling factory for solid waste in the region.
“I urge the authorities to install gradual sewage stations based on the normal progress of each village,” he said.
Nasrallah stressed that municipality projects must be give priority over the establishment of a new sewage network and water-filtering stations in the region, said the Daily Star.
The Litani River Authority, established in 1954, was to have provided an increase in irrigated land, generation of electricity, and development of recreational areas, according to Britannica.com.
However, it said that the main achievement of the project was later limited to the establishment of electrical power plants -- Albawaba.com
