Headline Sep 04, 2015 / ''' THESE GRAVEYARDS OF FILTH '''

''' THESE GRAVEYARDS OF FILTH '''

MY SUPER MOTHER, my late, great mother,  -Lady Ashrafat Jan, -brilliant as the mid-day Sun, was a typical red blooded feudal, if ever there was one.

She never went to school, but could  so easily, make any rogue organisation, any organisation,  stand on its hind legs, and squirm,  under an onslaught of vocal advocacy.,for every rotten thing, she smelled or observed -

No matter where,.. out came her favourite axiom: ''You damn wretched skunk, You stink.''  Heaven knows when and why, I latched on to it too. But even if I am polite enough never to air it, in my very heart, I never hesitate to pulse it.

For more than a month and half now, Lebanon, like the whole of the developing world, has been drowning in dirt, slush and filth. The main landfill site that used to take rubbish from the capital has choked and closed after exceeding its capacity.

The civic dysfunction is there because there has not been any substantial investment in infrastructure and the horrors of the past civil war still haunt the strife-torn Arab country.

BEIRUT  -Thousands of students and protesters occupied the environment ministry in the Lebanese capital this very Tuesday calling on the minister:

Mohammed Al Machnouk to resign over a horrible rubbish disposal crisis, the latest in a wave of protests against the paralysed political system.

Thousands of other protesters gathered outside the building as riot police took up positions in the surrounding streets and the  

''You Stink''  anti-government campaign called for a new rally. 

The student-protesters say the rubbish crisis, which has led to piles, piles and piles of refuse being left festering in the summer sun, reflects the failure of a political system run by sectarian politicians.

More than two decades since the end of Lebanon civil war, the country continues to have daily power cuts, frequent water shortages and  has seen an influx of over 1 million Syrian refugees.

The environmental minister withdrew from a committee dealing with the garbage crisis on Monday but that has not mollified protesters and students.

''We are now in a situation in which garbage has reached all houses and all rooms,'' protester Marwan Maalouf said. ''We are now at the environmental ministry, protesting peacefully till the environment minister resigns because he has to take responsibility for the situation  

That is why people are now demanding a roadmap for sustained development, and believe that if the government can't deliver it, there's no point in having it either.

Not only for Lebanon but also for almost every country in the developing world, such a situation can be outcome of administrative paralysis and inherent corruption. But at the time, there's a flip side to the civic story.

The moral is that we have to consume less. If we consume less, we won't raise such a stink   -and recycling is indispensable to save the earth from becoming a graveyard of filth. Nonetheless, cosmopolitans have to be on guard:

In streamlining civic amenities in an attempt to arrest pollution. It's time to save our cities and civilization from going down the sink.

Lebanon's waste-disposal crisis should serve as a dire warning to countries like:

Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Siri Lanka, Bangladesh, and on and on and on. 

What is unfolding in Beirut could just very well be, your trailer

''Are the Students Up?.... Yet?.''

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of Lebanon. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

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Good Night and God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless