State-contracted waste collection service RAMCO has had to slash operations by half due to delayed payments and the worsening fuel crisis, causing mounting piles of trash and a rotting miasma to linger in Beirut.

“As a company we’ve reached a point of total collapse in our operations due to the economic crisis and the pound to dollar exchange rates. It’s crippled our ability to work in Beirut and the other areas we cover, like Metn and Kesrouan,” RAMCO director Walid Bou Saad told The Daily Star. “Our contract is in dollars but today we’re being paid by checks and our costs have risen 1,200 percent for operation and maintenance, and 500 percent for salaries.

Read the full article at The Daily Star:https://bit.ly/2XbQ0Ly