Lebanon 'You Stink' protesters slow traffic on key highways
Date
3/14/2016 6:12:03 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Lebanese police control the traffic as demonstrators block the Dawra road a major highway leading towards Beirut slowing down rush hour traffic in protest after authorities said they would reopen a landfill to ease an eight-month rubbish crisis on March 14 2016. AFP / MARWAN TAHTAH
Beirut:Lebanese protesters slowed rush hour traffic on several highways leading towards Beirut on Monday after authorities said they would reopen a landfill to ease an eight-month rubbish crisis.
One activist braved rain and laid down on the highway leading north from the capital an activist from the "You Stink" movement told AFP adding that she was then detained.
The AFP journalist saw dozens of activists on a highway southeast of Beirut standing in the middle of the thoroughfare to block traffic for several minutes before being pushed back by security forces.
"Today we are sending a message to the government these were symbolic actions" said activist Assad Thebian.
"We are in discussion with unions and organisations to step up our action for next time."
While traffic on two of the three highways where activists had gathered was flowing normally again by mid-morning protesters stayed put on the Dawra highway north of Beirut Thebian said.
Rubbish has piled up on beaches in mountain forests and river beds across Lebanon since the closure in July of the country's largest landfill at Naameh just south of Beirut.
On Saturday the government said it would temporarily reopen a landfill but "You Stink" and other civil society movements that oppose the plan pledged to block roads and called for a general strike.
The activists' demands include a transfer of waste management to municipalities and a boosting of the country's rubbish recycling capabilities.
Some 3000 protesters marched to central Beirut on Saturday demanding a permanent solution to the crisis with some carrying banners calling for the "fall of the government".
In past demonstrations protesters have repeatedly rejected the reopening of the Naameh landfill calling for a comprehensive and long-term solution to the crisis.
Naameh was set up in the early 1990s as a temporary measure.
Earlier this month "You Stink" posted on its Facebook page a jarring video of mountains of trash festering across Lebanon.
In one of the shots filmed by a drone plastic bags containing rubbish can be seen stretching for miles like a flowing river.
The footage which was widely shared ahead of the demonstration mocked the tourism ministry over a video it had commissioned to highlight Lebanon's natural beauty.
AFP