Cabinet clears some appointments, delays other
Nevertheless, the government managed to approve some of the appointments on its agenda, including those of the members of the regulatory authority established by a 2020 law legalizing the cultivation of medical cannabis, as well as the General Civil Aviation Authority, created by a 2002 law.
However, the cabinet postponed the appointments for the regulatory authorities of telecommunications and energy, and extended by two weeks the application deadlines for these two bodies.
During the customary press briefing, Information Minister Paul Morcos specified that President Joseph Aoun emphasized the need to find a solution for public sector employees' salaries, insisting on their struggles and the difficulties they face.
The previous day, the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) announced that the various civil servant unions, which had called for a strike at the beginning of the month after the government approved a series of pay increases for several categories of senior officials, had suspended their strike to open a cycle of negotiations.
Regarding the latest turmoil in Syria, particularly clashes between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes, the government again condemned Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, asserting that "the stability of Syria strengthens that of Lebanon," Morcos said.
He added that the prime minister also noted the State Council's recent decision to suspend the cabinet's move to raise fuel taxes, intended to support military personnel hit hard by Lebanon's crisis since 2019.
Salam specifically stated that the aid should not be questioned and that a new funding source needs to be found, the information minister continued. The issue of funding remains unresolved. On Wednesday, a source at the Grand Serail told L'Orient Today that the Cabinet would maintain aid to the army that the tax measure was intended to fund, and that the finance minister would work on the matter.
One alternative is to increase customs revenue, which was discussed in Baabda.
Prior to the meeting, President Aoun met with Energy and Water Minister Joe Saddi regarding a Cypriot proposal to lay a submarine cable to supply electricity from Cyprus to Lebanon, as well as ministry work in the area of electric power supply.
These matters were not addressed in the press briefing. The public power supplier, Électricité du Liban (EDL), suffers from a significant production capacity deficit, compelling Lebanese citizens to rely on private generators.
Cannabis and aviation
The appointments for the regulatory authorities on medical cannabis and aviation were "the only two items definitively settled in the cabinet meeting."
The establishment of these authorities is expected to significantly improve governance in these sectors and is among the reforms demanded by Lebanon's international partners for years.
The first authority will be headed by Dany Fadel, a renowned Lebanese researcher and academic specializing in agricultural and botanical sciences, especially in the study of cannabis for medical and agricultural use. Mahmoud Aziz, a former captain at Middle East Airlines (MEA) and an expert in air accident investigations since 1994, will lead the second authority.
It's worth noting that ministers representing the Lebanese Forces (LF) contested the appointment mechanism adopted by the cabinet for the regulatory authorities on cannabis and civil aviation, according to OTV, a channel affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM, Aounist), a political rival of the LF.
Minister of State for Administrative Development Fadi Makki said during the press briefing that "the two regulatory authorities, for cannabis and civil aviation, have been entrusted to some of the most competent and qualified individuals."
Household waste
Another item on the agenda that was postponed is the Environment Ministry strategy on household waste, particularly the expansion of the government landfill in Jdeideh (Metn district, north of Beirut) after it reached capacity.
The Jdeideh landfill receives waste from northern Mount Lebanon and part of Beirut, while the Costa Brava landfill (south of Beirut) takes waste from Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Mount Lebanon.
Shortly after the meeting began at 3 p.m., the office of Metn MP Ibrahim Kanaan released a statement saying that "following [his] request, the item concerning the expansion of the Jdeideh landfill, proposed by the Council for Development and Reconstruction [CDR,] was removed from the cabinet agenda."
The issue of expanding the Jdeideh landfill is considerable, as it remains the only site where waste from a large region continues to be buried, with no alternative available. Metn MP Elie Hankashe, of the Kataeb bloc, who has followed the household waste issue for years, denounced the authorities' lack of foresight that continually brings the country, and this region in particular, to the brink of a waste crisis.
"For three months I've been receiving information from the contractor managing the site about its saturation," he told L'Orient Today.
For about a year, the Jdeideh landfill has been taking in, in addition to the 1,400 tons it is supposed to receive, 1,500 tons that should have been sent to Costa Brava, the MP said.
The other landfill was also closed due to saturation and expansion work being carried out there. Even though it recently reopened, according to L'Orient Today, it significantly contributed to the saturation of Jdeideh.
"Meanwhile, the Jdeideh landfill prematurely reached its maximum saturation rate, though this should not have happened before late October," Elias Hankache continued. Currently, he said, the "mountain" at Jdeideh is 40 meters high, and the authorities want to add two more meters, "which we refuse."
A potential expansion would involve a coastal plot of about 45,000 square meters, which the Lebanese state had given to the municipality in exchange for years of landfill use at the site. The state now plans to reclaim it to expand the landfill, a well-informed source confirmed to L'Orient Today.
In an interview on July 8, Environment Minister Tamara al-Zein confirmed that the landfill "will be saturated in October."
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