Conflict Incident Report

Employees of the Beirut Port held a sit-in on Thursday protesting an alleged government decision to use a nearby real estate as a dump site. MTV said that more than 100 employees staged the sit-in and prevented trucks transporting goods from entering the port causing long queues at the Port entrance. Reports have said that a decision was made to use block AB in the Port as a dump site for the waste that has been accumulating in several areas. Head of the Union of Beirut Port Employees Beshara al-Asmar told LBCI: “Today's move is only a warning against dumping wastes in the Port's vicinity.” “We will not accept the capital's trash to be accumulated in the Port. Moreover it will affect the employees' health,” warning of escalatory measures. In July, a waste-management crisis swept through the capital and Mount Lebanon after the closure of the Naameh landfill that received trash from the said areas.