Obama told me so: 01/08/15

Thursday, 8 January 2015

Jumblatt vows to close road outside Naameh dump

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt vowed to seal off the road outside the controversial Naameh dump on Jan. 17, the date set by the government to close the landfill in the Chouf town where Sukleen trucks empty their haul.

“The road outside the Naameh dump will be closed on Jan. 17,” Jumblatt told local daily Al-Akhbar in remarks published Friday.

Jumblatt said the aim behind the closure “is to arrive at a decision based on the proposed plan.”

“I gave instructions to party [PSP] ministers that the bold waste plan must be based on a decentralized solution,” Jumblatt said in remarks published Friday by local newspaper Al-Akhbar.

The Cabinet failed Thursday to reach an agreement on a plan to treat solid waste. If unresolved, it threatens to flood Beirut’s streets with trash after Jan. 17, the date when the contract between the government and Sukleen, the company responsible for sweeping and cleaning the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, expires.

Jumblatt, however, admitted that the road closure cannot last forever.

“We cannot close the road indefinitely because by doing so we would be burying ourselves in trash,” he said.

Jumblatt said he turned down two offers to establish a waste treatment facility and to convert waste into fuel in favor of the cement company under Siblin.

“After we studied both proposals, it turned out that they are expensive and polluting,” he said, while praising the government for renouncing the establishment of incinerators.

“In the end, we will need a site in the Chouf to create a landfill,” Jumblatt said, adding that he would discuss this matter with the municipalities.

Nusra plans to end Arsal Hostage crisis: report

Nusra Front plans to launch new initiatives soon to end the five-month-old ordeal of 25 Lebanese servicemen held...

Email: "Reclaiming the American Dream"

This afternoon, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro sent the following message to the White House email list. In it, he highlights the progress our housing market has made during President Obama's time in office, and how a new directive from the President will help more American families purchase their own homes.

Didn't get the message? Sign up for email updates here.

When my tenure as Secretary is over, I won't judge my time by how many initiatives my Department has launched, or how many press releases we've put out. I'll judge my tenure by the results -- by how we were able to make opportunity real for families across America.

I'm proud to be serving under a President who shares the same commitment to policies that put everyday Americans first. President Obama has guided our nation out of a historic crisis and into an economy that's picking up momentum. In just six years -- thanks in large part to his actions -- millions of Americans have been able to stay in their homes, and home sales are up by nearly 50 percent.

We're not stopping there. Today, the President announced that he's directing the Federal Housing Administration to reduce mortgage insurance premiums, which will help 250,000 American families buy a home over the next three years.

Thanks to President Obama's actions today, homeownership will be more accessible, and more sustainable for more Americans. Share the news, and take a look at a few charts that show exactly how far our housing system has come:

Waste dispute paralyzes Cabinet as Kataeb opposes treatment plan

BEIRUT: Discord over a controversial proposal to treat solid waste paralyzed Cabinet Thursday, with Prime Minister Tammam Salam vowing to hold no more sessions before consensus was reached on the plan. Salam adjourned the five-hour session after Kataeb Party ministers voiced opposition to the plan to treat solid wastes as proposed by Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk, saying it lacked transparency.

According to the Environment Ministry, Lebanon produces 1.57 million tons of solid waste a year, an amount that grows at an annual rate of 1.65 percent.

The plan would divide Lebanon into five blocs and request the Council of Development and Reconstruction to launch tenders to award contracts to companies to collect, transport and treat solid waste in each of these areas.

The Kataeb ministers stood opposed to several components of the plan, including the way Beirut and Mount Lebanon were divided and the fact that the companies would choose the locations of dumps and incinerators on their own.

The party also argued that the plan did not grant municipalities the right to collect and transport trash.

Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb, from Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party, said the Cabinet reached an agreement on the divisions of blocs.

But Chehayeb said there was a “mystery” surrounding the Kataeb ministers’ stance. The session failed when Kataeb ministers questioned how contracts would be awarded to companies and were not convinced of the plan.

Ministerial sources told The Daily Star Kataeb ministers argued that the manner in which contracts were awarded ought to be transparent, and voiced suspicions that contracts had already been earmarked for certain companies even before the tenders were launched.

On his way into the session, Economy Minister Alain Hakim, from the Kataeb Party, said that “everybody knows that MP Walid Jumblatt has his own company ready to collect and treat waste.”

But Hakim later retracted his remarks, saying he was “not optimistic about a resolution to the issue.”

The Kataeb Party’s stance enraged Salam, who adjourned the session, stressing that he would not call for another session until consensus was reached between ministers.

It is the first time Salam has resorted to such a move.

In comments after the session, Chehayeb disputed an earlier claim made by Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi in which he said Cabinet agreed to amend the tender document, something the Kataeb Party had called for, saying: “Unfortunately, Azzi does not know what he’s talking about.”

Machnouk said that the issues that had halted discussions “were not worth the opposition.”

Cabinet’s failure to reach an agreement on a plan to treat solid waste threatened to flood Beirut’s streets with trash after Jan. 17, the date when the contract between the government and Sukleen, the company responsible for sweeping and cleaning the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, expires.

By that date the government is also supposed to close the landfill in the Chouf town of Naameh where Sukleen trucks dump their haul.

Created as a six-year project in 1997, the landfill is now 18 years old and has exceeded its maximum capacity by five times, frustrating the residents of the area with its odor and gas emissions.

But the issue is a source of dispute between Machnouk and PSP ministers. While Machnouk argues that the deadline should be pushed back until new companies tasked with collecting and treating waste are selected, PSP ministers insist that the dump should be closed on time.

Most PSP supporters live in the Chouf, and residents of Naameh have threatened to close the dump themselves by Jan. 17 if the government does not act.

Hariri did not want Syrian enmity: friend

BEIRUT: The last words that former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said before he took off on the car trip that would end his life were about entrusting Lebanon to his successor Premier Omar Karami, a journalist and confidante told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Thursday.

Faisal Salman, a former journalist and political columnist for As-Safir and now media adviser to Future TV, was one of the last people to speak with Hariri when the former leader took a detour to meet journalists at Café de l’Etoile in Nijmeh Square, minutes before he was assassinated.

“He said to me, ‘Don’t forget to tell Karami that the country is entrusted to him,” Salman said.

He added that Hariri had hoped Karami would take a strong stand on the electoral law debate ahead of the 2005 parliamentary vote.

Salman also described the moment when the journalists at the cafe felt the impact of the massive bombing.

“We saw from the cafe, from the glass façade, black smoke rising great distances,” he said. “Some of the glass was shattered in the cafe and the surroundings. Everyone rushed to find out what had happened.”

Salman, who was trusted by Hariri and met regularly with him to discuss politics, testified by video link as hearings resumed at the STL. The tribunal is trying in absentia five members of Hezbollah accused of complicity in the 2005 attack.

The testimony is part of a broader arc in the trial that sets the political scene ahead of the bombing, laying out the rising tensions between Hariri and the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad.

Former Premier Fouad Siniora and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt are expected to testify in this phase of the trial.

Salman’s testimony painted Hariri as a political leader who was confident in the victory of his anti-Syrian coalition in the upcoming polls, but one that also did not see Syria as the enemy.

Salman said Hariri was worried that the Syria and its allies would try to fix the electoral law in order to minimize his victory in the parliamentary polls, but that he remained confident that his bloc, which included Jumblatt and Christians opposed to the Syrian presence, would win a majority.

“He said that regardless of what the electoral law is, he would take part in the elections with his allies and would win,” Salman testified, recounting Hariri’s final conversation with journalists at the cafe. “He said that he had confidence in the Lebanese people who know where their political interests lie.”

Hariri also indicated he would not be forced into running alongside allies of Syria forced upon him by the regime in the same parliamentary lists.

Still, Salman said Hariri did not seek enmity with Assad, adding that the former leader “did not want to sever links with the Syrian regime.”

Hariri, he said, believed that Lebanon “should not be governed against Syria,” but that it also “should not be governed from Syria.”

Salman said Hariri had grown more concerned about his security in early 2005, weeks before his assassination, placing more checkpoints around his Qoreitem Palace residence and hiring more guards. The day of his assassination was the first time Salman had seen Hariri’s heightened protection team accompany him into the cafe.

Stricter entry requirements new territory for Lebanon

BEIRUT: Stricter entry requirements for Syrian nationals is “new territory” for Lebanon and will be followed up by re-evaluating the status of refugees registered with the UNHCR, a government source told The Daily Star. The lack of political consensus over establishing formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon played a part in the Interior Ministry’s decision to enforce tighter measures regulating the entry of Syrian nationals, a source told The Daily Star. The policy was also reviewed by the ministerial committee managing the refugee file, but does not have Cabinet’s official approval, according to the source.

The measures were described as “new territory” for the government, and might be slightly modified after being “tested” at the borders.

The divisive measures, which went into effect Jan. 5, require Syrian nationals to acquire one of six entry permit types to cross into Lebanon.

The issue of formal camps has long divided Lebanese political factions. The Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party are advocates of the idea, while the Free Patriotic Movement and Kataeb Party have consistently voiced vehement opposition. The stances of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, meanwhile, are ambiguous.

With formal camps out of the question, the attention of policymakers turned to managing the number of refugees inside Lebanon and establishing a threshold for these, which entailed categorizing and limiting incoming Syrians.

“One of the things that no one discusses or wants to talk about publicly is: what is the ceiling? If you are going to keep the door open at the borders, then what is the maximum [number of people you can allow entry]?” the source asked.

“The decision taken [by General Security] is saying somehow, though this isn’t being articulated directly, that we cannot absorb more refugees or Syrians – the least we can do is guarantee no deportations will take place,” the source said, referring to comments made publicly by Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk.

Lebanon hosts 1.2 registered refugees from Syria, as well as an additional 300,000 Syrian nationals considered refugees by the government. The deluge has overwhelmed Lebanon’s already feeble infrastructure and public services. “The Syrian crisis exposed Lebanon’s deficiencies,” the source said. “But also its strengths.”

The revised regulations apply to all Syrian nationals and not only refugee claimant-seekers because General Security has no way of distinguishing between humanitarian cases and economic migrants, given the historical relationship between Syria and Lebanon enshrined in the 1991 Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination.

While entry permit requirements will better classify and manage Syrian visitors to Lebanon, the Social Affairs Ministry is in the midst of drafting a set of criteria to assess humanitarian cases. A preliminary draft suggests children, the elderly and those seeking urgent medical care will figure prominently, as will Syrians who are in consideration for resettlement to a third country.

In the event of renewed military operations in populous areas around the border – namely Damascus – there is a strong likelihood that the regulations will be relaxed once more, the source said.

The source said two clear policies would guide the Lebanese government in managing refugees in 2015: increasing development support to host communities through the crisis response plan launched in December, and deregistering or “auditing” refugees. “There is a general perception among political factions that the numbers registered with the UNHCR are inflated, that many are attempting to benefit from aid,” the source said.

“Once an exercise in auditing is complete, then we can really start implementing better policies, because negative perceptions around the [numbers] issue would be solved.”

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim has called the measures “totally unacceptable,” but clarified Thursday that Damascus was not looking to confront the government over them. He called on leaders to demonstrate “wisdom” in dealing with the matter.

“We leave it to the Lebanese government to make a correct judgment concerning the entry measures for Syrian nationals on the borders,” Ali said during an interview with OTV. “We do not want to escalate because that wouldn’t serve either country.”

The envoy also said that Speaker Nabih Berri had voiced his disapproval of the policy during a private meeting, quoting him as saying “there should not be entry permits or visas between Lebanon and Syria.”

“What is happening are mere organizational measures, and should be carried out in coordination between the two countries,” Berri reportedly told Ali during a meeting between the two.

Ali urged Lebanon to re-examine the policy as it had not been approved by the Cabinet, reiterating that Syria needed to coordinate with Lebanon to manage the refugee crisis.

The Interior Ministry source said the new measures did not contradict the 1991 treaty which governs relations between both countries as “it’s not complete border closure, it’s border management. We’re not putting obstacles in the way of movement, just supporting documentation.”

Lebanese leaders condemn Charlie Hebdo attack

BEIRUT: Strong condemnations of the deadly raid on the Paris office of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by Lebanese leaders continued to pour in Thursday, as France held a day of national mourning.

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam telephoned his French counterpart, Manuel Valls, to extend his condolences. Salam expressed Lebanon’s solidarity with the French people during their ordeal, and reiterated his condemnation of the horrible crime, adding that Islam was innocent of the violent atrocities carried out in its name.

The noon attack by three gunmen, suspected to be militant Islamists taking revenge for the newspaper’s long-term satirization of Islam, left 12 dead. It constituted France’s deadliest terror attack in half a century.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said that “nothing ever justifies the barbaric and heinous crime that targeted Charlie Hebdo.”

“The time has come for an intellectual and political Islamic awakening and renaissance that will give Islam renewed credibility,” he said.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk sent a fax to his French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve, condemning the attack and reaffirming his solidarity with “free” France.

“This coward and barbaric attack not only struck at freedom of expression but also at free journalists and Islam’s moderate values,” his letter said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said in a tweet Thursday afternoon: “We deplore and condemn the terrorist act that happened in Paris, even if we were not surprised by it, since we have repeatedly warned French leaders about the inevitable expansion of terrorism to their country.”

Another top Christian leader, Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea, sent a letter to Hollande Thursday denouncing the attack and describing it as a “barbaric act.”

“France will face this challenge and justice will be done. The country of human rights will remain a source of the freedom of expression.”

The Future Movement released a statement condemning the attack after a meeting at Saad Hariri’s downtown residence, calling it a “shock ... since France represents an example of forgiveness and rejection of violence.”

In a separate statement, head of the Future bloc, MP Fouad Siniora, said the perpetrators “committed a crime against humanity that isn’t justifiable by any religion and isn’t covered by any law,” adding that Islam is a “religion of forgiveness and peace that rejects violence.”

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel sent a fax to both Hollande and his French counterpart, condemning the “flagrant assault” and stressing the “necessity of cooperation to counter terrorism.”

The newspaper has been accused several times in the past of disrespecting religious communities by publishing cartoons ridiculing Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ, among other figures.

The attack, which saw gunmen storm the newspaper offices while reportedly shouting “Allahu akbar,” has prompted fiery debate about the relationship between terror and Islam. As a result, several prominent Lebanese religious figures also chose to tackle head-on the crime’s alleged Islamic aspect.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called for the respect of every religion, its rituals and values, in order for the sanctity of human life to be cherished and for people to be able to live together in peace.

“The blood of the victims of yesterday’s terrorist act and the blood of victims of similar crimes compel everyone to work on building a world of brotherhood, love and peace,” he said.

“The [patriarch] offers in the name of the Maronite church his deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of the victims of the infamous crime that targeted yesterday the staff of Charlie Hebdo in Paris,” the secretariat of the Maronite Patriarchate added in a statement.

Lebanese Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian, Higher Islamic Shiite Council Deputy Head Abdel-Amir Qabalan and Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Naim Hasan released a joint statement expressing their great sorrow over the “brutal and heinous crime.”

“Every crime committed in the name of religion, any religion, is an assault on that same religion and an offense to it and to all its believers,” they said.

“Those who have committed this awful massacre represent only the world of crime. Thus we call on the French authorities to chase and capture them, and put them on trial so their punishment would be a lesson to other like-minded criminals.”

Shiite scholar Sayyed Ali Fadlallah also denounced the attack. “This aggressive approach is not approved by Islam,” he said in a speech during the 28th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran.

“It has become clear that this phenomenon, which started due to many reasons, is now a global threat,” he added, warning of the possibility of Muslims in France and elsewhere in Europe suffering backlash for this act.

Landfills or incinerators for Lebanon?

BEIRUT: As the debate in Cabinet intensifies over the best means to manage Lebanon’s thorny issue of waste management, two workable solutions stand tabled: the building of new landfills or the establishment of the incinerators. Either option, however, comes with its own pros and cons.

The issue of waste management threatened to paralyze the work of the government as Cabinet ministers Thursday remained sharply divided on how best to deal with Lebanon’s trash problem, failing to come to an agreement on the fate of the controversial Naameh landfill.

Sources close to the talks say that the main options on the table are to either replace the notorious dump with a new landfill or approve the construction of incinerators.

Currently, landfills are the most popular solution to Lebanon’s waste problems, as they are used to dispose of over 50 percent of the country’s solid waste, according to statistics from the Environment Ministry.

But according to Dr. George Ayoub, an environmental engineering professor at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon’s landscape is not suitable for landfills.

“Lebanon cannot afford land to be used for ... solid waste dumping. We don’t have enough,” he explained.

“[Wherever] you want to [build a landfill] you’re surrounded by towns and cities and housing, it’s a major problem.”

Ayoub said that countries such as Saudi Arabia that have vast desert space are more suited for landfilling solutions. He also said that any land used to build landfills would be condemned for the next 80 years as it would continue to emit toxic gases.

Beyond the pungent smell that landfills emit, they are also hazardous to locals as they release toxic gases. The fermentation and decomposition of the waste releases methane, carbon dioxide and – in extreme cases – hydrogen sulfide, Ayoub said.

The contested Naameh landfill was built in 1997 and was intended to be a six-year project. Seventeen years later the landfill is still standing and has reached five times its original capacity.

Beirut and Mount Lebanon were flooded in trash last year when protesters blocked the entrance to the landfill until police intervened and shut down the protest.

Jan. 17, 2015, was originally set as the closure date for the landfill until Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk stated that it would not be closed until April 2015, sparking a dispute within Cabinet.

Ministers affiliated with the Progressive Socialist Party are adamant that Naameh be closed on time. Also, ministers from the Kataeb party say that Machnouk’s waste management plan is flawed.

Incinerators that turn waste into energy have been presented as an alternative solution to the current landfill option.

Incineration is a somewhat controversial method that involves burning waste and converting it into ash, flue gas and heat. If the gas released from an incineration plant is not properly filtered it can be very toxic for residents living nearby.

However, in defense of incinerators, the Lebanese government argues that if the waste is treated beforehand – a process that involves separation – and then burned it can be used as an energy source.

It may be difficult to secure a location to build an incinerator as such facilities have a tumultuous history in Lebanon. A large incinerator located in the Amrousieh suburb of Beirut was burned down in 1997 by locals weary of the fumes it was emitting.

Some reports indicate that Riad Assaad, owner of the firm South Lebanon Construction and close friend of PSP leader Walid Jumblatt, has already ordered the necessary equipment to build a waste-to-energy incinerator plant. When contacted by The Daily Star Assaad denied the reports.

“People keep telling me that I have, but I have not,” he said, adding that he would bid on a tender if it was issued by the government.

The issuance of a tender to build incinerators was further delayed Wednesday as Cabinet ministers could not agree on an implementation plan going forward, despite reports that Machnouk and Kataeb ministers came to an agreement that day. One of the Kataeb ministers’ main grievances is that the specifications of the tender do not stipulate that companies have the required experience to set up incinerators. The tender will be open to companies that build landfills, incinerators or both.

Specifications for building incinerators are currently being created by the Danish consulting firm Ramdoll. The Kataeb ministers argue that these specifications should be considered before awarding the tender and potential locations should also be identified by the government.

Nader Nakib, president of G, a green building NGO, says that the government may be able to secure a location by doing way with the preconceptions of locals regarding the side effects of incineration. “Ignorance is what [the government takes advantage of. Nobody knows, nobody understands,” he lamented.

In his opinion the country would be better off keeping the Naameh landfill open for a period as no viable alternative is currently available.

In the long term, Nakib thinks that separation and recycling of waste, combined with the incineration of the remnants, is the best solution for Lebanon’s solid waste problem. This would involve building a hangar that has a separation table in which waste is manually split into organic and recyclable material.

Nakib said the compost generated from this could be used in Lebanon’s mountainous region and some waste could be used in waste-to-energy schemes. He added that this could be set up in a month but lamented that the option was not being explored by responsible parties as they push for incineration.

“It’s not going to be easy [to set up an incineration plant] but [the government] is trying to portray it as the only way out. They’ve been pretty successful.”