Contact us | +971 4 3635663
Sponsored by   Mudabala
 
 
BETA
Loading Loading ...
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 | 03:03 GMT
 

Scavengers rummage for a living in Sidon's notorious dump

The Daily Star
 
 

02 November 2009

SIDON: The squalid carbuncle that is Sidon dump rises from the sea just a five minute drive from the center of one of Lebanon’s most picturesque and historic towns. Originally created to dispose of debris from buildings bombed in Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the city has been piling its rubbish here ever since: creating a 600,000 cubic meter heap that reaches the height of a four-storey building. It’s history is visible to the naked eye: layers of waste sandwiched between dirt show like chalk-cliff sediment lines as a rough track hewn into the compressed waste of years gone-by allows garbage trucks to ascend this mountain of junk.

For the last 19  years Mohammad Hamdan, 29, has worked here amid the filth and flies; sorting metal for scrap, and, more recently, plastic for recycling.

“The smell really, really gets to you but to us it’s our livelihood so we have no choice. It brings us our food,” he said, pausing from his sorting beneath the midday sun. Flies cover everything, his face, hands and clothes. Even now he finds them irritating, said Hamdan, showing a hand perforated with bites. 

Every day Hamdan and some 20 other scavagengers sift through some twelve truck-loads of rubbish delivered by – which appears for the most part to be domestic waste. With bare hands and rudimentary hoes, the men, clad in old, soiled clothes, stand knee deep in filth to find their catch. A the end of each long day, often from sun-up to sun-down, their efforts are weighed and each man is paid accordingly – usually around LL15,000, with which Hamdan buys food for himself, his son and daughter, who live in the Beirut suburb of Ain al-Remmaneh.

Hamdan said workers often suffer from health complaints and have to be wary of dangerous waste. Wehbe Shouhaib, director of the Hospital of the South has been reported as saying that “Illnesses such as asthma, pulmonary infections and problems with the nervous system are among the consequences of the dump’s stench.” 

However, Jihan Ahmad Dahbour, 69, said the continued exposure to the less than sanitary conditions have not impacted on his health. “I’ve been here 23 years and nothing has happened to me, or anyone else. Nothing.”  Dahbour said he took a blood test every year and had never shown any signs of illness related to the dump.

“We live in a country with a great percentage of unemployment and I’m just happy to be working. At my age it’s hard to find work,” said Dahbour

Walid, a Lebanese University student studying physics regularly fishes next to the dump and says that anyone rash enough to swim in the water will soon be taking a trip to hospital.

A brown fetid liquid runs from a pipe beside the dump into the sea and detritus clutters the rocky shore. 

“The waves knock down the rubbish and it falls into the water and it ends up all over the beaches,” said Walid. “The smell is really horrible when the wind changes direction you can smell it all over the town.

“Families used to come and swim here but now it’s been turned into a dump no one comes.”

Last year 150 tons of rubbish slid into the sea after storms and an earthquake caused the dump’s west side to collapse. The Sidon municipality announced a state of environmental emergency and said it was taking measures to limit sea pollution, but environmentalists claimed the effects were widespread.

Environmental activist Mohammad Sarji told The Daily Star at the time, “In addition to the garbage floating on water, big quantities have also filled the seabed,” he added. “The entire Lebanese coast will be polluted but southern fishermen in particular will be mostly affected by this catastrophe. Like fish, Sidon’s fishermen are also victims of negligence.”

“Amid the storms we are witnessing, waste is expected to reach all surrounding countries, such as Syria, Cyprus and Greece,” Sarji added. Sarji, said it was “very obvious” that the dump would collapse again soon.

Fires are also a problem. Gases created by decomposting garbage are extremely flammable – Discarded narguileh coals are a prime suspect of ignition, said Dahbour. September saw one of the worst fires at the dump so far with a cloud of toxic fumes covering the town, with Lebanon’s Green Party describing the scene as “like a volcano.”

Plans are being formulated to replace the dump – which general manager Afif Salami has said is already over capacity – with a new “sanitary landfill,” accompanied by a garbage-processing and recycling factory. A long awaited maritime wall is also being discussed. The project has received some $60 million of donations from the state, Saudi Arabia and the Alwaleed Bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation, but progress has been slow, with the biggest stumbling block proving to be finding a new site.

“We suggested moving the dump to an abandoned quarry in a nearby village where we could sort the trash to dispose of the toxic waste and recycle that which can be recycled [but the village refused],” Sidon Mayor Abdel-Rahman al-Bizri was reported as saying last month. “The Environment Ministry has not given its approval,” said Bizri. “The government doesn’t want us to provide the solution. It does not suit them.” 

Walid said Sidon residents such as himself shared their mayor’s pessimism. “I think closing the dump is a good idea but it makes too much money for the whole system,” he said. 

While closure of the dump is seen by many as an imperative, for the freelance scavengers it represents the best hope they have of earning a living.  “When the dump closes we will go around looking for material to recycle in garbage bins,” said Hamdam, contemplating a life outside Sidon’s mountain of filth. – Additional reporting by Omar Katerji

© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.

 
 
 
Community Comments (0) - Comment on this article
The opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect Zawya. Read our Comment Policy.
 
 
 
Loading ...
 
Report Abuse
Loading ...
 
 
Loading ...
Zawya Comment Policy:
 
  1. Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
    1.1   Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
    1.2   Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
    1.3   Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
    1.4   Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
    1.5   Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
    1.6   Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
    1.7   Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
  2. The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
  3. Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
  4. By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Post Your Tender Notices for FREE
(No Sign-in Required)
 
 
Tender Notice Due Date
Maintenance Works for Facilities and Services & Minor Construction Works for Authority Various Facilities (Southern Area) - PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR AGRICULTURE AFFAIRS AND FISH RESOURCES 20Dec09
Construction, Completion, Maintenance, Implementation, Cultivation and Maintenance of Specialized Garden at Area (I) - PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR AGRICULTURE AFFAIRS AND FISH RESOURCES 22Dec09
Maintenance Works for Facilities and Services & Minor Construction Works for Authority Various Facilities (Middle Area) - PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR AGRICULTURE AFFAIRS AND FISH RESOURCES 22Dec09
Maintenance and Agriculture Plantation Works for Squares and Gardens at KISR and Plantation of Indoor Plants and Trees for 3 Years Period - KUWAIT INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 06Dec09
Construction of park at Al Jebailat - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
Construction of park and playground at Simaisma - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 16Dec09
Construction of parks, playgrounds and plaza at Doha pakage 1- M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
Construction of parks, playgrounds and plaza at Doha pakage 2 - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
Construction of a public park and playground at Onaiza - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
Beautification works at Al Thumama area - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
Construction of park at Al Kaaban - M. Municipal Affairs & Agriculture 07Dec09
PROVISION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORT HOTEL ARCHITECT OF RECORD & CONSULTING ENGINEER - Oman Tourism Development Co . SAOC 07Dec09
PROVISION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORT HOTEL INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTANT (International) - Oman Tourism Development Co . SAOC 07Dec09
CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION OF NEW WAREHOUSES AT VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE SULTANATE OF OMAN & ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AT MUSCAT GOVERNORATE - The Public Authority for stores and Food Reserve 07Dec09
Provision of Catering Services and Related Services for KPC Employees Training Program - KUWAIT PETROLEUM CORPORATION 01Dec09
Purchase of Ice Cubes and Leasing of Refrigerated Trailers for American Forces - Ministry of Defense 24Nov09
Spanish Franchises Opportunities in the Fashion sectors 31Dec09
Leasing of Buses for transporting Male and Female Students at Authority - Public Authority for Applied Education and Training 13Dec09
Supply of Vibration Measurement Instruments AA/09-10/M/191/S 21Dec09
Maintenance of Al Karana Sewage Lagoon AA/09-10/M/197/S 07Dec09
 »  More Tenders
 
 
 
Community Buzz

Stories

Companies

Most viewed companies by Community in the last 24 hrs
Company Name Country Industry
Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company Qatar Landlords and Developers
Saudi Binladin Group Saudi Arabia Construction and Design
Consolidated Contractors Company Overseas Construction and Design
Saudi Telecom Saudi Arabia Telecommunications Services
Saudi Electricity Company Saudi Arabia Electric Utilities
Alokozay Group of Companies UAE Multi-line
Emirates Airline UAE Transportation Services
Abu Dhabi Distribution Company UAE Electric Utilities
Abu Dhabi Investment Council UAE Investment Firms and Funds
Presidential Flight UAE Transportation Services
 

Projects

Blogs

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Site is optimised for viewing at 1024 x 768 with Internet Explorer v6 and Firefox v3.0 and above.
Copyright © 2009 ABQ Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. Please read our Membership Agreement