{"id":16452,"date":"2026-05-09T08:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/sidon-municipal-council-continues-the-achievements-of-previous-councils\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:05:12","slug":"sidon-municipal-council-continues-the-achievements-of-previous-councils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/sidon-municipal-council-continues-the-achievements-of-previous-councils\/","title":{"rendered":"Sidon Municipal Council Continues the \u201cAchievements\u201d of Previous Councils
"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite the fact that a full year has passed since the election of the current municipal council, it has not held a single legal session to discuss the worst crisis facing the city of Sidon: the ongoing failure to properly process solid household waste and the accumulation of garbage around the treatment plant, which has turned into a deadly landfill on municipal land. This situation has intensified foul odors and increased environmental pollution levels across the city. The waste arriving at the treatment facility comes not only from Sidon and the municipalities of the Sidon-Zahrani Union, but also from several other regions. <\/p>\n\n

Over the past year, the municipal council limited itself to holding meetings between some council members and members of the committee formed by former mayor Dr. Hazem Badieh to monitor the plant\u2019s operations. The committee repeatedly submitted recommendations and proposals that were ignored. Representatives from the treatment plant\u2019s management also participated in some of these meetings, presenting interventions, lectures, and suggestions, none of which were implemented. <\/p>\n\n

These irresponsible practices by the municipal council are not new. They are merely a continuation of policies adopted by previous municipal councils that failed to take the interests of the city and its residents into account. When the municipal council signed a contract with IBC in 2002 to establish the treatment plant, the agreement included numerous provisions that neither the plant\u2019s management nor the municipal council respected. <\/p>\n\n

The municipal council signed a contract with IBC in 2002 to establish the treatment plant, but neither the plant\u2019s management nor the council adhered to many of its provisions. <\/em><\/pre>\n\n
In 2008, after the plant\u2019s equipment installation was completed, the management refused to operate it unless the Sidon municipality waived its contractual right to free treatment of 200 tons of waste per day, as stipulated in the agreement signed between both parties. Numerous correspondences took place regarding this issue, especially during 2011 and 2012. The municipal council could have enforced Article 14 of the agreement, which entitled it to take over the plant itself. We requested access to the correspondence exchanged during that period and obtained several documents, the latest dated January 20, 2012. After that date, however, the correspondence disappeared according to the records provided by the current municipal council. Then, a letter dated March 30, 2012, from the plant\u2019s management surfaced, stating that the administration had been informed of the municipality\u2019s decision to waive the right to free treatment for 200 tons of waste daily.        <\/p>\n\n
How did this happen? Who decided to alter an agreement originally signed by a municipal council? Any amendment to an agreement approved by the municipal council requires a new official council decision. After consulting several council members who served in 2012, all denied that any decision had been made to waive the free treatment clause. They confirmed that the issue was never discussed during a legal council meeting and that no official resolution had been adopted. When asked who made the decision, the answer was complete silence.        <\/p>\n\n
Not only was the municipality\u2019s right to free daily waste treatment abandoned, but the waste processing fees were also doubled. A review of treatment cost calculations recently referenced by the Ministry of Environment shows that the agreed fees were significantly higher than standard estimates. The plant eventually began operating, yet the municipality never established any plan to monitor its performance or identify weaknesses requiring improvement. Although the municipal council hired a company to oversee the plant\u2019s operations, the management obstructed its work, limiting its role solely to monitoring the weight of incoming waste.       <\/p>\n\n
The plant ceased operations several times, yet the municipal council never took any decisive action beyond appeals and requests. In late 2022, environmental expert Farouk Al-Murabi completed a comprehensive report on the plant\u2019s condition and proposals for reconstruction and operational reform. The report reached the municipal council on January 11, 2023, but to this day neither the previous nor the current council has discussed it. The report included a reconstruction and corrective action plan, which plant officials claim cannot be implemented due to insufficient funding, despite the fact that the plant\u2019s management had already received large sums from the Independent Municipal Fund, amounts sufficient for reconstruction and rehabilitation.      <\/p>\n\n
Most of the plant\u2019s equipment was sold as scrap metal under the full view and hearing of the municipal council, which remained completely inactive. One of the most widely circulated jokes is that the plant\u2019s management purchased equipment from the \u201cGhosta\u201d facility. This is true, but the equipment was intended only for sorting, not for full waste treatment. These machines merely enable the management to profit from selling recyclable materials. The plant has now effectively become a collection center for waste pickers, with the knowledge of the municipal council.      <\/p>\n\n
Most recently, there was a proposal to issue a warning notice to the plant\u2019s management. Yet on the very same day the proposal was discussed, the head of Sidon\u2019s municipal council, acting in his capacity as president of the Sidon-Zahrani Municipal Union, visited the plant along with several union members and publicly thanked and praised the company\u2019s owners and management for the role supposedly played by the facility. However, they never clarified what that role actually was: processing waste or dumping it around the plant and on municipal land? This is especially notable given that the plant manager himself has repeatedly acknowledged that the facility does not process all the waste it receives on a regular basis, while providing different percentages each time he speaks about the issue.       <\/p>\n\n
It appears that the municipal council is linking discussion of the waste crisis to the achievement of a peace and normalization agreement with Israel.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n
Afterward, the mayor stated that he did not approve of the statement that had been issued, but requested additional time before delivering a warning notice to the plant after a ceasefire agreement was reached. It now seems as though the municipal council is tying discussion of the waste crisis to the conclusion of a peace and normalization agreement with Israel, as if addressing the condition of the treatment plant is pointless amid the ongoing security tensions.   <\/p>\n\n
So far, the municipal council has taken no serious action regarding the waste treatment plant. Its manager even insisted that one council member thank him for sending some of his workers to help sweep the streets. The message was obvious: \u201cI am offering you a favor in exchange for signing invoices so I can receive money for waste that was never processed.\u201d He also publicly claimed on one occasion that he provides various services to most politicians and influential figures in the city. The real scandal is that no one responded to these insults directed at them.     <\/p>\n\n
One source says that the Council of Ministers is expected to approve payments to the plant\u2019s management for the year 2024, despite the fact that the company had already submitted a reform plan during that period and failed to implement any part of it. The question now is: what will the municipal council do, especially considering that its president also heads the \u201cfolkloric\u201d Municipal Union? The ruling political factions continue to compete over positions and quotas while simultaneously agreeing on the looting of public funds from the pockets of ordinary citizens.    <\/p>\n\n
This report is supported by : <\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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Despite the fact that a full year has passed since the election of the current municipal council, it has not held a single legal session to discuss the worst crisis facing the city of Sidon: the ongoing failure to properly process solid household waste and the accumulation of garbage around the treatment plant, which has turned into a deadly landfill on municipal land. This situation has intensified foul odors and increased environmental pollution levels across the city. The waste arriving at the treatment facility comes not only from Sidon and the municipalities of the Sidon-Zahrani Union, but also from several other regions. Over the past year, the municipal council limited itself to holding meetings between some council members and members of the committee formed by former mayor Dr. Hazem Badieh to monitor the plant\u2019s operations. The committee repeatedly submitted recommendations and proposals that were ignored. Representatives from the treatment plant\u2019s management also participated in some of these meetings, presenting interventions, lectures, and suggestions, none of which were implemented. These irresponsible practices by the municipal council are not new. They are merely a continuation of policies adopted by previous municipal councils that failed to take the interests of the city and its residents into account. When the municipal council signed a contract with IBC in 2002 to establish the treatment plant, the agreement included numerous provisions that neither the plant\u2019s management nor the municipal council respected. The municipal council signed a contract with IBC in 2002 to establish the treatment plant, but neither the plant\u2019s management nor the council adhered to many of its provisions. In 2008, after the plant\u2019s equipment installation was completed, the management refused to operate it unless the Sidon municipality waived its contractual right to free treatment of 200 tons of waste per day, as stipulated in the agreement signed between both parties. Numerous correspondences took place regarding this issue, especially during 2011 and 2012. The municipal council could have enforced Article 14 of the agreement, which entitled it to take over the plant itself. We requested access to the correspondence exchanged during that period and obtained several documents, the latest dated January 20, 2012. After that date, however, the correspondence disappeared according to the records provided by the current municipal council. Then, a letter dated March 30, 2012, from the plant\u2019s management surfaced, stating that the administration had been informed of the municipality\u2019s decision to waive the right to free treatment for 200 tons of waste daily. How did this happen? Who decided to alter an agreement originally signed by a municipal council? Any amendment to an agreement approved by the municipal council requires a new official council decision. After consulting several council members who served in 2012, all denied that any decision had been made to waive the free treatment clause. They confirmed that the issue was never discussed during a legal council meeting and that no official resolution had been adopted. When asked who made the decision, the answer was complete silence. Not only was the municipality\u2019s right to free daily waste treatment abandoned, but the waste processing fees were also doubled. A review of treatment cost calculations recently referenced by the Ministry of Environment shows that the agreed fees were significantly higher than standard estimates. The plant eventually began operating, yet the municipality never established any plan to monitor its performance or identify weaknesses requiring improvement. Although the municipal council hired a company to oversee the plant\u2019s operations, the management obstructed its work, limiting its role solely to monitoring the weight of incoming waste. The plant ceased operations several times, yet the municipal council never took any decisive action beyond appeals and requests. In late 2022, environmental expert Farouk Al-Murabi completed a comprehensive report on the plant\u2019s condition and proposals for reconstruction and operational reform. The report reached the municipal council on January 11, 2023, but to this day neither the previous nor the current council has discussed it. The report included a reconstruction and corrective action plan, which plant officials claim cannot be implemented due to insufficient funding, despite the fact that the plant\u2019s management had already received large sums from the Independent Municipal Fund, amounts sufficient for reconstruction and rehabilitation. Most of the plant\u2019s equipment was sold as scrap metal under the full view and hearing of the municipal council, which remained completely inactive. One of the most widely circulated jokes is that the plant\u2019s management purchased equipment from the \u201cGhosta\u201d facility. This is true, but the equipment was intended only for sorting, not for full waste treatment. These machines merely enable the management to profit from selling recyclable materials. The plant has now effectively become a collection center for waste pickers, with the knowledge of the municipal council. Most recently, there was a proposal to issue a warning notice to the plant\u2019s management. Yet on the very same day the proposal was discussed, the head of Sidon\u2019s municipal council, acting in his capacity as president of the Sidon-Zahrani Municipal Union, visited the plant along with several union members and publicly thanked and praised the company\u2019s owners and management for the role supposedly played by the facility. However, they never clarified what that role actually was: processing waste or dumping it around the plant and on municipal land? This is especially notable given that the plant manager himself has repeatedly acknowledged that the facility does not process all the waste it receives on a regular basis, while providing different percentages each time he speaks about the issue. It appears that the municipal council is linking discussion of the waste crisis to the achievement of a peace and normalization agreement with Israel. Afterward, the mayor stated that he did not approve of the statement that had been issued, but requested additional time before delivering a warning notice to the plant after a ceasefire agreement was reached. It now seems as though the municipal council is tying discussion of the waste crisis to the conclusion of a peace and normalization agreement with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[354,411,409],"tags":[347,704,365,363,357,376],"class_list":["post-16452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-municipalities","category-between-law-and-reality","category-sillat-wassel-selections","tag-lebanon-en","tag-municipalities","tag-pollution-en","tag-south","tag-war-en","tag-youth-en-2"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54-300x132.jpg",300,132,true],"large":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54-1024x450.jpg",1024,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54-1536x675.jpg",1536,675,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-01-54.jpg",2048,900,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"\u0648\u0641\u064a\u0642 \u0627\u0644\u0647\u0648\u0627\u0631\u064a","author_link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/author\/wafiq-elhawary\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Municipalities<\/a> Between Law and Reality<\/a> Sillat Wassel Selections<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Despite the fact that a full year has passed since the election of the current municipal council, it has not held a single legal session to discuss the worst crisis facing the city of Sidon: the ongoing failure to properly process solid household waste and the accumulation of garbage around the treatment plant, which has…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16453,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16452\/revisions\/16453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}