For much of this afternoon, a luxury residential apartment building was transformed into a pollution spewing factory fit for a Charles Dickens novel.
It created a cloud of chemical burning smoke for over two hours that drifted through an otherwise picturesque verdant valley in the Metn area, above Beirut:
Though barely visible in the photo, the smoke chocked the atmosphere for miles with foul smelling fumes of burned diesel fuel and oil. Clearly the problem was the building’s faulty, unmaintained generator and area residents said this wasn’t the first time; black plumes have been a regular site above this luxury complex for months. It is called “Parc Resdential” and is one of the largest developments in the Mtaileb area. Apartments sell for 100s of thousands of dollars:
Me: “Do you have the number for the Mtaileb municipality?”
Long pause.
1515: “We don’t show a municipality for Mtaileb, what’s the closet town?
The operator gives me the number of Rabiya municipality. I call them:
Rabiya Muncipality: “There is no municipality for Mtaileb.”
Me: “How could that be?”
Municipality: “Haha, it’s weird eh?
Me: “Who do I call?”
Municipality: “Try 125 again, tell them that.”
I re-dial 125.
Me: “There is no municipality, I am sure.”
125: “Thats impossible. They must be attached to Rabiya then–“
Me: “No I called Rabiya, they say they have nothing to do with Mtaileb.”
125: “Call the police then.”
Me: “Which number should I call?”
125: “1212”
Me: “Isn’t that the number of Pizza Hut?”
Pause.
125: (calling out to his office mates) “Is 1212 Pizza Hut? (inaudible response)
Ah yes, that’s right. The police is 112.”
I call them.
112: “Whats the problem?”
Me: “How do I report a building spewing smoke?”
112: “We will have someone call you back; is this your number?
5 minutes later
Police: “What’s the problem?”
Me: “Building spewing smoke for 2 hours now.”
Police: “Call the fire department.”
Me: “It’s coming from the building’s generator exhaust. The building is not on fire!”
Police: “Oh. … Well in that case you need to file a police report here at the station in Antelias (20 kilometers away) and then file a lawsuit at the courts in Baabda (1 hour away).
Me: “I thought you call the police when there is a problem and then you come check it out ?”
Police: “Haha, well that’s not the way it works in these cases. Good luck to you!”
—
Conclusion: Why does pollution continue in Lebanon? Because no one can report it.
Only a lawsuit can be brought and the burden is on the citizen to pay court and attorney fees in a process that could stretch over years, if it ever gets started at all.
On a totally unrelated note, how did Pizza Hut acquire a delivery hotline number that is only one digit different from the emergency police line—so similar that even pizza-starved emergency operators get confused?
5 comments
The problem is in the laws and the law makers, the mess we are in suits them, this way we continue to need them. But I think Rabyeh Municipality is responsible and they were just trying to shift responsability on civil defense. It would be a good idea to meet the president of the municipality, as a journalist you carry more clout than an ordinary citizen, that is if you want to pursue this headache further. Good luck, good to see someone caring enough to take action. Wish I had the patience.
Hani Bathish
Good job Habib! Keep up the good work… It’s a known fact that continually exposing wrong-doing makes it end.
Thanks guys. Hani, isn’t it possible that Mtaileb does not have a municipality? I’ve heard this from several people living in the area for years. If true, I wonder if other populated areas also lack municipal government and what issues this raises in terms of services and regulation. I did notice a lot of dumping in Mtaileb’s valleys, for example.
What happened to the Environmental hotline (1789)?
Jouret el Ballout (between the Metn Highway and Broumana) does not have a municipality either. The roads and sewage are not maintained and the whole area looks like do-it-yourself territory.
Thanks for the tip Phil, I wonder if 1789 is still in service. I’ve tried a couple of times and no answer. When did you hear about it being launched?