Hala Kilani
Daily Star staff

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Environment Minister Michel Musa asserted that the Cabinet and Parliament were dedicated to solving environmental problems but that budget problems and conflicting interests were impeding their work.
Speaking to skeptical reporters Wednesday, Musa asserted, “I’m the one in continuous contact with this milieu, so believe me, the MPs and ministers are more environmentally aware than before and our demands are receiving positive feedback in the Cabinet and in Parliament.”
He also blamed the slow advancement of many environmental issues on the lack of prerogatives, employees and money in his ministry.
“What can we do with only 46 employees and a yearly budget of $1.7 million?” Musa queried.
Concerning limited prerogatives, Musa gave the example of the reduction of air pollution by the transport sector.
“Three other ministries had their say in this issue; the Ministries of the Interior, Transport and Energy,” he said.
Musa spoke after a news conference during which he announced some of the results of a 2001 survey, The State of the Environment Report, in celebration of World Environment Day.
Musa saw that the best way to tackle his ministry’s problems was by equipping it with as much legislation as possible in order to avoid future confrontations with other ministries.
“We can’t do anything without legislation, it’s the only way we can get the ministry on its feet,” Musa said.
He went on to say, “I refuse to engage in ‘quixotic’ battles with other ministries that made stars out of previous ministers and will only lead to the destruction of the Ministry of Environment.”
Musa was responding to questions regarding the perception that the Interior Ministry was exercising its access to files on municipal waste management and quarries with little resistance on the part of environment officials.
Reporters also posed questions about whether the coming June 15 deadline, set for taxi drivers to abandon the use of highly polluting diesel and readapt their cars to the use of unleaded fuel, would be honored.
Along those lines, the European Commission’s Environment Coordinator, Miriam Pikaar, stated that “sound environmental legislation is definitely vital … What we are facing now, though, are the obstacles to the actual application and enforcement of the adopted legislation.”
Pikaar offered as an anecdote the results of a personal survey she conducted over the last three months of around 70 taxi drivers about the upcoming deadline.
“Three actually appeared to be using clean fuel … Most just shrugged their shoulders and said it was only another deadline and nothing would happen,” Pikaar said.
But the minister insisted that due to its “new” dedication to the environment, the government seriously intended to implement this legislation and force taxi drivers to comply with the deadline.
l The 300-page State of the Environment Report describes the current environmental situation in Lebanon. These are some of its findings:
Lebanon’s population, estimated at about 4.3 million in 2001, generates about 1.44 million tons of municipal solid waste and an estimated 250 million cubic meters of sewage annually.
Agriculture is increasingly shifting to irrigated production affecting 42 percent of cultivated land and using about 1 billion cubic meters of irrigated water per year. Organic farming is gaining popularity and could help reduce the use of agri-chemicals.
Industries generated an estimated 189,000 tons of industrial waste annually including about 3,400 tons of hazardous waste. The majority of industries (82 percent) are located outside industrial zones and many are in residential areas.
Water is one of Lebanon’s most precious resources. Coastal, surface and groundwater are all subject to untreated industrial, agricultural and domestic effluents. Coastal waters are also affected by seafront dumps.
Groundwater mining is leading to seawater intrusion: sodium levels in coastal wells exceeded 5,000 milligrams per liter. The cost of bottled water consumption due to poor water quality reaches $7.5 million annually.
Soil and land are harmed by the existence of 250,000 hectares of cultivated lands, 64 industrial zones, 720 quarries, 520,000 buildings, 22,000 kilometers of roads, six ski resorts and at least 1,600 gas stations.

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