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Lebanese Parliament Passes Controversial Waste Management Law

Main image belongs to photographer Ghaleb Cabbabé

On Monday September 24th, the Lebanese parliament approved the solid waste management draft law that had been widely opposed by many.

The law permits the incineration of trash, a practice that many feel if not done right would lead to hazardous health and environmental effects. This comes after over two years of a trash crisis that the Lebanese government has not managed to solve.


Source: Ghaleb Cabbabé

Parliamentary members who oppose this law included prominent independent figure Paula Yacoubian who withdrew from the session and according to Naharnet said, “We reject legalizing incinerators through the parliament because cancerous diseases in Lebanon are spiking high. It is crucial that the draft law be rejected.”


Saida representative Osama Saad also went on record protesting the law and calling for other ways to resolve the trash crisis.

The local activists NGO IndyAct had previously asserted that “incinerators are a main source of dioxins…the most dangerous human-made carcinogens that cause congenital malformations at birth and respiratory and lung diseases.”

Here is how some people responded to this news on Twitter using the hashtag #محرقة_الموت (the incinerator of death):