The Secretary-General of the High Relief Commission, Major General Mohammed Khair, inspected the Sarar Dump fire, following the directives of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and with the follow-up from MP Mohammed Suleiman. This visit was his second and included both the dump and the sorting facility.
Khair assessed the fire site alongside Khalid Al-Mohammad, representing Suleiman, a team of consultants and engineers, the follow-up committee for the dump fire, and several activists and those affected by the site. After a field tour of the dump, Khair announced that “his second visit comes to follow up on the directives given by the Prime Minister, under the supervision of MP Suleiman, to reach a final and comprehensive solution to extinguish this fire and reduce the emissions of smoke that carry all kinds of toxic gases harmful to citizens.”
He stated, “We have identified with the engineers a mechanism we can work with to stop this fire and this environmental crime, and the fundamental solution remains the opening of the sorting facility and halting all forms of random dumping.” He noted that he “requested from the Minister of Environment the necessity of establishing a military and security point to prevent the situation from remaining uncontrolled, with fires continuing without knowing the perpetrators.”
Khair sent a message to private dump owners, pointing out that their method of “waste treatment does not meet environmental standards and they must work using technical methods instead of randomly.” He warned that “if things remain as they are, they will be subject to legal responsibility and face greater financial burdens, and any amount the state covers for addressing this disaster will be their responsibility.”
He confirmed that “the environmental treatment of the dump is being followed up by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment, and it will have a solution soon.”
