The “Saida Faces” initiative was not digested after the company’s decision to stop collecting and transporting waste from the streets and neighborhoods of the city, before the end of its contract, in reference to the lifting of the political cover after the judicial position expressed by the Appeal Prosecutor in the South, Judge Raheef Ramadan (also in his capacity as an environmental prosecutor). ), that “the law requires the contracting company to fully carry out its duty.”
While the political situation meets the judicial one, in search of practical and quick solutions that end the problem of waste accumulation in neighborhoods, streets, and near schools, hospitals, clinics, and vegetable carts, 3 developments emerged:
– The first: What “Nidaa Al-Watan” has learned is that the “Saida Faces” initiative, which includes representatives of the main Sidonian political forces, MPs Abd al-Rahman al-Bizri and Osama Saad, former MP Bahia Hariri, Bassam Hammoud, and Mayor Muhammad al-Saudi, will visit caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati this afternoon at the Serail. Government to transfer the city’s unified position on the need for the state to take the initiative to pay financial dues to municipalities and their federations, even if exceptions are required in response.
Responsible sources told “Nidaa Al-Watan” that the upcoming meeting with Mikati is the last ray of hope to get out of the dark tunnel, because the exacerbation of the waste problem in the city will lead to a health and environmental disaster that is indispensable, adding to people’s concerns in light of the deepening economic crisis.
The second: An emergency meeting was held for the “Saida Faces” initiative, at the invitation of the Saudi, in the municipality building. Al-Bizri was absent from it due to predetermined dates. The contract signed with the company obliges it to carry out this task under any circumstances, considering that this matter is completely separate from the issue of the company’s dues with the state, and that the company’s problem is not with the city but with the state.
The participants’ sources confirmed to “Nidaa Al-Watan” that there is great dissatisfaction with the contractor company, and questions about why the problem does not occur with other municipalities, and stressed the need for the contractor company (especially before the end of its contract at the end of this year) to take the initiative to remove waste and clean the streets, regardless of any A financial dispute with the Union of Municipalities, or the state’s delay in paying the company’s financial dues, and the company may not under any circumstances, not even after the end of the contract period, stop performing its duties before securing a replacement, under penalty of liability. They kept their meetings open until this crisis is addressed. While Al-Saudi indicated that “those gathered showed their understanding of the difficult financial conditions in which the contractor works and their eagerness to work in order to secure his arrears with the state.”
Third: NTCC hastened to issue a statement to Sidonian public opinion hours after the meeting of the initiative members, in which it reaffirms that the contract signed between it and the Union of Municipalities of Sidon – Al-Zahrani to collect and transport waste within the scope of the union ends on 12/31/2022 and that it will not be responsible for The collection and removal of waste within the scope of the federation as of 01/01/2023, but it will remove the waste during the remaining period according to the available capabilities, and that if any municipality or entity wishes to collect and transport its waste, the company is ready to do this, provided that financing and the landfill are secured.
The company stated in its statement that the city has suffered during the past two years what it has suffered from waste, and this is definitely due to two reasons: the first, irregular work in the waste treatment center frequently, whether by striking workers or stopping it due to maintenance or changing the timing of waste reception, which led to the irregularity of the collection process. The other reason is the non-payment of our dues as a company, which led to the lack of the necessary liquidity even to purchase fuel, and thus the cessation or delay in collecting waste (and this matter was absolutely beyond the control of the company and was never a matter for “extortion” or “retribution from people”).
The company confirmed that it had not received any amount of its dues related to the waste collection obligation in the Federation of Saida Al-Zahrani Municipalities since 02/20/2019, not to mention its dues from other municipalities and unions. In addition to the delay in paying dues, the required amounts lost their value with the collapse of the national currency exchange rate and dues. It is no longer sufficient to pay the company’s obligations, whether its obligations to its employees, workers, suppliers, the National Social Security Fund, and creditor banks.