Beirut: waste collection stops again as activists escalate action

The waste management company in charge of collecting refuse in the capital Beirut and the district of Mount Lebanon told local press it has now stopped collecting trash and will not resume until a new dumping ground is secured.

Lebanon was hit by the ongoing waste crisis after the country's largest landfill in Naameh shut down on July 17.

Refuse is currently being dumped in make-shift landfills around the country, threatening to cause huge envrionmental damage as well as a health emergency.

The government's solution proposed last week, to temporarily re-open the landfill in parallel with the implementation of a long-term waste management plan, has been rejected by anti-government protesters for failing to meet several of their demands.

The demands of the protesters organised under several umbrella activist groups, including You Stink and We Want Accountability, range from the resignation of the environment minister and a sustainable plan for waste management, to addressing widespread corruption among the political class and appropriation of public spaces in Lebanon.

The term of MPs in Lebanon expired in 2013, after which they extended their mandates without holding elections

On Tuesday, activists affiliated with the We Want Accountability campaign tried to storm the Finance Ministry in Beirut, demanding the state stop paying the salaries of MPs.

The term of MPs in Lebanon expired in May 2013, after which they extended their mandates without holding elections, citing security concerns.

Lebanon has been grappling with a chronic political crisis that has left its government often paralysed and unable to address the country's many problems.

Lebanon has also failed to elect a president since 2014.