A major fire erupted at the Burj Hammoud landfill, also known as the Jdeideh–Metn dump, causing significant damage and raising serious concerns among residents in the surrounding areas. In response, MP Elias Hankach visited the site to assess the situation and express solidarity with the affected communities living nearby.

In an interview with LBCI, Hankach emphasized the importance of addressing the underlying causes of this environmental crisis, rather than merely extinguishing the fire.

"This crisis has been existing for eight years now. When the Kataeb Party first mobilized during the waste management crisis, with our youth protesting day and night for 33 days, all local parties and forces in Metn conspired against us," Hankach said.

"Initially, we were told that this landfill would be temporary, lasting only four years. But eight years later, Metn continues to witness the largest environmental crime in one of Lebanon's most densely populated areas," he added.

Despite opposition from various parties, Hankach noted that the Kataeb Party had taken legal action to halt the landfill’s operations and had proposed tax exemptions for residents of Jdeideh, Sadd, Bauchriyeh, and Dora, who have been most affected by the landfill’s presence.

Hankach also called on caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin to urgently collaborate on a comprehensive solution to end the crisis, stressing the need to find a final solution to this issue as soon as possible.

For his part, Kataeb MP Salim Sayegh shed light on the Kataeb's stance on Lebanon’s waste management crisis, emphasizing the party’s firm opposition to the controversial landfills. In a video posted on social media, Sayegh outlined the approaches the Kataeb Party had adopted to address the waste crisis and the solutions it had put forward, leading to the party’s eventual resignation from the government led by then-Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

The resignation, according to Sayegh, was motivated by the party’s refusal to be complicit in what he described as the government’s corrupt handling of the waste crisis, particularly the establishment of the Burj Hammoud landfill.

“Don’t ask about the revolution... the revolution started here,” Sayegh wrote on his X account, referring to the Kataeb Party’s decision to exit the government.

"It was a revolution against the government we left to avoid bearing false witness... to avoid being complicits in the establishment of the Burj Hammoud landfill and being left out of history!”

In his statement, Sayegh expressed hope for a brighter future, concluding with the message: “The time of the honorable is coming back!”

لا تسألوا عن الثورة… الثورة بدأت من هنا… ثورة على الحكومة التي خرجنا منها لكي لا نكون شهود زور… لكي لا نكون شركاء لا في مزبلة #برج_حمود ولا في مزبلة التاريخ!
زمن الاوادم راجع! pic.twitter.com/oM4ZnaYoip

— Salim el Sayegh (@selimelsayegh) September 13, 2024

Moreover, Kataeb Political Bureau member and former minister Alain Hakim also expressed his concerns, criticizing the failure to address the waste management crisis until now.

"The Kataeb Party has presented clear scientific solutions over the years and repeatedly warned of the dangers posed by random landfills," Hakim wrote on X.

"Despite our protests in both the Cabinet and the streets, these warnings were dismissed. Instead, all the political parties of Northern Metn united against the Kataeb at the time, rather than working on effective solutions to the crisis."

Hakim further lamented the current situation, describing it as both an environmental and health disaster.

"Today, the residents of Burj Hammoud, Jdeideh, and the entire Metn are paying the price for years of negligence and greed. This catastrophe has been allowed to persist without accountability," he concluded.