BEIRUT: Cleanup of the heavily polluted Litani River and Qaraoun
Reservoir will cost much more than the originally planned $150 million,
Environment Minister Nazim Khoury said Monday. Khoury said it is critical to
target the broad range of pollution sources that have made the river and lake a
severe health hazard.
But he said current plans to build treatment plants at a cost of
$150 million are simply not enough to do the job given how heavily the river is
polluted and how many people rely on it.
“A large portion of Lebanese citizens are affected by the
subject of energy and water and their repercussions on agriculture in Lebanon,”
Khoury said after a meeting on the pollution at the Environment Ministry.
Government efforts to care for the river will be useless without
tackling the sources of the pollution and fining violators who dump waste into
the river, the minister added.
The Litani River, which irrigates and provides drinking water
for much of the country, has levels of bacterial contamination far above safe
drinking water levels. The river is used as a dumping site for industrial,
medical, agricultural and home waste.
Studies conducted along the waterway have shown an increase in
diseases and digestive problems due to ingesting the water and crops grown with
it. The river water is so foul smelling and full of insects that many residents
by the water’s edge have relocated.
A $150 million government plan to build water treatment plants
has been held up by a lack of funds, with lawmakers pointing fingers at the
government and Environment Ministry for not contributing their share.
Khoury said he has had to revise his initial endorsement of that
plan given all the problems of waste dumping that have not been addressed. He
called for the government to seek out new sources of funding to cover the extra
expense of additional treatment programs.
The meeting Monday included representatives from local
developmental bodies who proposed a number of plans to tackle the pollutant
problem. He said attendees of the meeting will meet again to further explore
the plans and implement the best solution.
In January Speaker Nabih Berri and Primer Minister Najib Mitaki
launched a Litani River project to provide over 300,000 residents potable water
and irrigate large areas of land. Phase one of the project cost $330 million,
most of which was supplied by the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development
and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development.
It’s unclear how far the various plans will actually go toward
cleaning the river and providing people usable water. Similar projects have
been in the works for decades as leaders sought to develop the country’s
infrastructure and provide water to more people in the countryside.
In the meantime, the problem could get worse if the government
doesn’t act quickly. A new plan to allow irrigation with the Litani up to 800
meters will spread the overall footprint of the poisonous water.
“The polluted
Litani waters will spread to a larger area if the problem is not treated in as
quick a time as possible,” Khoury said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jul-24/181725-litani-river-cleanup-project-to-cost-much-more-than-expected.ashx#axzz21WxW3tDz
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