Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk is prepared to sue all private hospitals who fail to recycle their medical waste, the hospitals union head announced Tuesday.
After meeting with Machnouk at the ministry Tuesday morning, the head of the Association of Private Hospitals Sleiman Haroun said he could not convince the minister to refrain from suing the hospitals.
Haroun explained that the Environment Ministry urged 72 hospitals one year ago to make sure their medical waste is treated by a specialized company, but 19 of them have so far failed to do so.
“The minister insists on prosecuting them, especially that he had warned them against violating the law,” Haroun said. “We asked him to extend the deadline by one month, but he refused.”
The union chief said the reason why some hospitals could not abide by the demand was related to structural problems.
“The party specialized in recycling medical waste is Arc en Ciel,” he said. “But it neither has the ability nor the required equipment... to fulfill this work,” Haroun said.
He insisted that all hospitals aspired to fully comply with the law, and asked Machnouk to either license private companies aside from Arc en Ciel to fill the gap, or facilitate the bureaucratic papers for companies who can sell recycling equipment to hospitals.
The minister welcomed the last suggestion, Haroun added, since it allows hospitals to treat their own medical waste.
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