Activists Collect Trash from Roadsides N. Beirut
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Activists began Saturday collecting trash in Burj Hammoud, north of Beirut, to ensure public safety and reduce the possible spread of epidemics due to the nearly four-month waste crisis.
"Enough!" is a campaign established by Offrejoie Association-French for "offering of joy"-, T.E.R.R.E Liban (Earth Lebanon), the Beirut Marathon Association and Saint Joseph University's "The Seventh Day Operation" for volunteer work.
The move kicked off under the title "Volunteer-Put Your Hand in Mine so that Lebanon Can Continue."
Activists started collecting garbage from under the Karantina Bridge in Burj Hammoud and the seaside road, reaching Jal El-Dib, according to The Daily Star.
Random trash was collected and put in isolation bags. The campaign will continue Sunday starting 9:30 am.
The crisis began after the Environment Ministry closed the overused Naameh landfill in July and failed to provision an adequate waste management plan, causing collection services to collapse.
The Naameh landfill opened in 1998 as a component of the government's Emergency Plan to close the Burj Hammoud dump.
Since then, the mounds of garbage on streets have been set alight. The smell and smoke are engulfing areas neighboring the seaside road in north Beirut, in particular Dora highway.
