Lebanon holds its nose as politicians fail to address rubbish crisis

Lebanon’s rubbish collection crisis, which set off huge protests this summer, is entering its sixth month – but you would hardly know it in Beirut.

Not only are the capital’s streets kept relatively garbage free, but the country’s politicians appear in no hurry to resolve the catastrophe.

Instead, waste is pushed to the periphery, piled in hills near the mouth of the city’s river, attracting a fly infestation that has plagued Beirut’s easternmost residents since early November.

On the other side of the river, mounds of waste along the bank reach the height of roadway overpasses.

“The situation is disastrous,” said Rachid Rahme, a physician at Lebanon’s Sacré Coeur Hospital. “I don’t like to get involved in politics, but I’m sure they could find a way to deal with it rather than dealing with it in this way.”

Frustration over the mounting garbage sparked a protest movement under the banner “You Stink”, an epithet aimed at the government, which brought tens of thousands of demonstrators into Beirut’s streets over the summer. The collection crisis erupted in July after authorities closed the primary landfill for Beirut and the surrounding coastal governorate without providing an alternative.

The demonstrations were a catharsis of discontent directed at the political class, which has walled itself off from popular opinion and failed to provide other basic services such as water, electricity and drainage.

But those protests have largely fizzled out, owing to a mix of canny political manoeuvring and repressive crackdowns.

In September, young men openly identifying themselves as supporters of the country’s parliament speaker descended on the protesters, carrying knives and throwing punches and stones. Every time demonstrators attempted to approach the parliament building, security forces fired their weapons into the air, sprayed teargas and used water cannons, and arrested dozens.