Daily Star - Environment Minister Slams Quarry Owners For Price Hikes

BEIRUT: The rise in prices of construction materials and the environmental violations of rock and sand quarries were at the top of the agenda for the Environment Ministry and the permanent secretariat for the National Environment Convention on Tuesday.
Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal held talks with the secretariat, during which he slammed all quarry owners who were trying to pressure the ministry by raising the prices of construction materials.
“I insist on implementing the law … I will not abide by administrative deadlines. Administrators and other ministries should control the prices and supervise those working at night and under the cover of darkness,” he said.
Rahhal admitted that the country needed sand and rock quarries but added that these quarries should be regulated by the law. “Ministerial decree 8803 provided a plan mentioning over 16 quarry sites in Lebanon and that this is enough. The decree also set conditions for quarry licenses,” he added, noting that the National Council for Quarries included nine ministries tasked with handing out licenses.
The minister also tackled the use of explosives in quarries, saying they could lead to damages in nearby houses and villages, and could alter the course of underground water sources.
The number of quarries was recently reduced from 450 to 50 in Lebanon, according to the secretariat’s secretary general Rabih Salem.
Salem spoke during another meeting held by the secretariat and said over 6,000 homes in Lebanon were in danger of collapsing because of quarries.
He also condemned all the accusations pointed at the Environment Ministry concerning the rise in prices for construction material and said “the rise in prices is primarily the result of a plan by quarry owners.”
Salem then sent a message to all quarries working clandestinely, saying the Environment Ministry has deployed a group of 250 volunteers who have been working on taking photographs of illegal sites and that this evidence would be used in court. – The Daily Star