Daily Star - Environmental Crime In Sidon

SIDON: Environmentalists this week expressed their concern about unchecked ecological destruction they say is taking place near Sidon.
A number of trees along the Helaliyya-Abra highway connecting the two towns were cut down by workers at night for the purpose of erecting commercial billboards in their place.
“This environmental crime should not be allowed to pass without those responsible being brought to account,” a number of local environmental activists and associations said in a statement after the incident. The statement called for an investigation and said Helaliya’s municipality should be dissolved if it turns out to have ordered the trees be cut.
Outraged by what they called a grave environmental offense, many activists were suspicious of Helaliya’s mayor, who denied municipal involvement, and condemned the environmental crime. “The municipality is maneuvering and hasn’t been truthful,” the statement said.
“The massacre could never have taken place without complete cover by the municipality,” said Mohamed Assi, a resident.
The recently established Environmental Youth Association accused the Helaliya Municipality of allowing the trees to be cut down in order to make way for advertising billboards.
Security sources said that a police convoy from a Sidon police station was patrolling the area when it arrested two people cutting trees on the main highway connecting Helaliya and Abra. When interrogated, both detainees said that they had permission from the municipality and that they had been employed to erect billboards.
Their testimonies were subsequently denied by the mayor, the security source said. The mayor also noted that the municipality had approved the erection of two commercial billboards but did not call for the trees to be removed.
Nevertheless, observations of the location of the billboards suggest that they could never have been cemented in without cutting the trees.
After carrying out their investigation, the police station informed Judge Hassan Shaheen of the issue.
The judge ordered the release of the two men on bail and asked for a pledge to replant the trees.
Other environmental activists believe that Helaliya’s municipality knew of the incident but decided to cover up its involvement after the incident provoked considerable protest.
Local environmental activist Zaher Bizri highlighted his concern over the flagrant disrespect for laws that ban cutting down trees, saying protecting the environment and promoting environmental and social awareness should be among the major responsibilities of Helaliya Municipality.
He added that the municipality would have violated its moral and legal duty if it had allowed the cutting of the trees.
Bizri said it was likely the municipality was aware of the crime given that similar acts had taken place in recent months. “Several billboards blocking spectacular views have emerged in that location,” he said. “The contractor could never have taken such a step without the permission of the municipality.”
The activist called on Interior and Municipalities Minister Ziyad Baroud and Lebanese municipalities to stop massacring Lebanon’s dwindling natural resources.
The Environmental Youth Association, meanwhile, questioned why the concerned authorities were so apathetic over the cutting of the trees.
Sparing the Internal Security Forces (ISF) from its criticism, the association slammed the South governate over its intended abstention from asking for an investigation or sending a petition to the municipality.
The association asked: “Why should all the responsibility fall on the ISF – as though it is a scapegoat?”
The group also urged other environmental associations and Baroud to personally follow up on the issue.