The residents of the city of Nabatieh and a number of towns in the district and Iqlim al-Tuffah are experiencing a worsening environmental and health crisis, as a result of repeated and arson fires in random waste dumps and scrap and plastic collections, amid appeals to the concerned authorities to intervene quickly and put an end to this phenomenon.
The repercussions of the fires included the regions of Nabatieh, Al-Duwair, Al-Sharqiya, Al-Numairiyah, Toul, Al-Kfour, Zibdine, Harouf, Habbouch, Deir Al-Zahrani, and Ansar, all the way to towns in Iqlim Al-Tuffah, where the crisis reached its peak last night after thick smoke filled with unpleasant odors covered large areas and penetrated homes, causing health problems, especially among the elderly and children.
Residents complain about the continued fires in random dumps and sites for collecting scrap and plastic, in light of what they described as the absence of adequate follow-up from a number of municipalities and concerned authorities.
In the Toul-Al-Kfour area, large quantities of plastic, wires, and tires are burned repeatedly with the aim of extracting copper and iron, in residential areas and near Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital.
This afternoon, a thick cloud of black smoke covered the sky of the area, alarming residents before it became clear that its source was burning plastic materials in nearby locations.
Smoke also frequently covers the area of the former Ansar detention center, where random dumps are spread, in addition to the valley area in the town of Al-Duwair, where large quantities of waste accumulate before being burned, which exacerbates the environmental and health damage to the population.
The same scenes are repeated in the Al-Waer area, located between the towns of Al-Sharqiya, Al-Numairiyah, and Al-Kfour, where quantities of waste and plastic materials are burned continuously at night.
The people appealed to the Minister of Environment, Tamara El-Zein, the region’s representatives, the acting governor of Nabatieh, and the Public Prosecutor of the Environment, in addition to the competent security services, to intervene quickly to put an end to this crisis, warning of its continued health and environmental repercussions on the population.
