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Health minister warns Lebanon on verge of health disaster because of trash crisis

Associated Press
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A Lebanese man passes a pile of garbage blocking a street in east Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Monday that the country is on the brink of a "major health disaster" unless an immediate solution is found for the country's trash. Garbage has been collecting on streets in Lebanon for the past month amid government paralysis and inability to agree on a solution after Beirut's main landfill was closed down. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Piles of garbage blocks a street in east Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Monday that the country is on the brink of a "major health disaster" unless an immediate solution is found for the country's trash. Garbage has been collecting on streets in Lebanon for the past month amid government paralysis and inability to agree on a solution after Beirut's main landfill was closed down. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Lebanese women pass a pile of garbage blocking a street in east Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Monday that the country is on the brink of a "major health disaster" unless an immediate solution is found for the country's trash. Garbage has been collecting on streets in Lebanon for the past month amid government paralysis and inability to agree on a solution after Beirut's main landfill was closed down. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Lebanon's health minister says the country is on the brink of a "major health disaster" unless an immediate solution is found for the country's trash.

Garbage has been collecting on streets in Lebanon for the past month amid government paralysis and inability to agree on a solution after Beirut's main landfill was closed down.

Some residents have resorted to burning the trash on the street, sending toxic fumes over the city's horizons and into people's homes.

Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Lebanon's air, water and food were threatened with contamination and called for an emergency committee to come up with immediate recommendations.

Political disputes in recent weeks have blocked the government from taking decisions, including agreeing on alternative ways of dealing with the garbage crisis.