BEIRUT: Ministers failed to come to an agreement on waste treatment – the key issue hanging over the government for months – at the final Cabinet session of the year Tuesday. After the meeting, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said the Cabinet discussed solid waste treatment for an hour before setting the matter aside for its session on Jan. 8.
Political sources told The Daily Star that the Cabinet had almost achieved full consensus over the dossier before the Kataeb party rejected the bid and called for delaying discussions.
Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, said Kataeb’s rejection stemmed from the party wanting to propose its own waste treatment plan.
But Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi, who is also the Kataeb deputy chief, said its rejection was caused by the party’s inability to review the proposal in time for the session, noting that they had received it only three days before the meeting.
Political sources said that Salam was irked by Kataeb’s decision and warned that Lebanon would face a major crisis if a plan was not approved soon.
Agricultural Minister Akram Chehayeb of the Progressive Socialist Party, which has vehemently opposed calls to delay the scheduled mid-January closure of the Naameh landfill, said he would only agree to the delay if there was a clear waste management plan.
At the opening of the session, Salam called for the election of a president and expressed hopes that the seven-month vacuum would end at the start of the next year, Joreige said.
Salam also noted that a “great heartache” was being felt this holiday season with the ongoing captivity of 25 Lebanese servicemen who are being held hostage by ISIS and the Nusra Front.
Salam expressed hopes that they would be released soon, Joreige added.
He also announced that the Cabinet had approved a request from the Interior Ministry calling for the Independent Municipal Fund to pay the dues of the Lavagette waste treatment company for a six-month period.
The Cabinet also approved requests from several ministries to allow them to receive donations from foreign states and institutions.
It also agreed on appointing Sarkis Khoury as the director general of the Directorate General of Antiquities of the Culture Ministry.
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