Trash Crisis Looms in Beirut as Finance Ministry Withholds Payments

The streets of Beirut and its suburbs may soon be overwhelmed with uncollected garbage during the upcoming Eid al-Adha holiday, as a financial standoff between Lebanon’s Finance Ministry and waste management contractors threatens to halt trash collection.

Local broadcaster MTV reported that the crisis stems from the finance minister’s refusal to authorize long-overdue payments to companies tasked with collecting and sorting the capital’s waste. The lack of funding is expected to bring waste removal operations to a near-standstill, raising fears of a repeat of previous trash crises that have plagued the capital in recent years.

With Eid al-Adha just days away, residents and municipal officials are expressing concern that piles of uncollected garbage could quickly accumulate in the streets, posing both environmental and public health risks.