The sea of ​​Lebanon is oppressed but not hopeless

Beirut Joel Riachi

The controversy about the pollution of the Sea of ​​Lebanon remains based on social networking sites. Although at a slower pace after the National Council for Scientific Research announced the results of its report on water quality along the Lebanese coast, which seemed somewhat reassuring.

"News" The Secretary-General of the Council met with Dr. Maeen Hamza, who assessed the subject and results of the survey conducted.

The Lebanese are confused and scared, especially with the issuance of two reports: The first of the Agricultural Scientific Research Authority says that the water of Lebanon is "catastrophic", and the second of the Research Council Does 16 of the 25 test subjects in the study have a good assessment? Where is credibility? What report do we believe?

I do not want to comment on reports from public or private institutions or on news distributed by social networking sites that are very productive. I can only speak of our report as a National Council for Scientific Research, which we carried out through our Center for Oceanography and the highly advanced technical capabilities of the scientific vessel Qana.

We are continuously on the surveys for 12 months. The figures we announce are 12-month rates and are the result of bacteriological and chemical analyzes and analysis of the ratios of heavy metals found on the coast. These analyzes are part of a 30-year research program in the Council and are now being implemented according to European standards.

The analysis you make is a routine annual authorization?

When we learned information from social networks and newspapers that concluded that the entire coast from Abdeh North to Naqoura South was polluted and sentenced to death, we conducted an additional investigation, which ended July 19.

It should be recognized that the situation is more accurate because the number of sewage estuaries on the beach exceeds 100 and is known and contributes to some municipalities and communities in areas where there are no stations to refine the wells.

Our findings do not hide the places of heavy pollution, but we have made it clear that these results do not relate to drainage estuaries, waste dumps, ports and factories.

Our research also did not cover the private swimming pools with their own system and expects that they will carry out the tests themselves and explain to them more transparency at their door and everyone knows that their introduction is very expensive.

We took samples from areas visited by people for swimming and fishing, and a large part of them are popular swimming pools. We found that 16 of the 25 points could be included in acceptable, good and very good levels and 9 bad points and required measures to stop sources of pollution and other measures to prevent people from swimming and swimming. The sea is disputed but not hopeless. The Lebanese coast is being oppressed by the Lebanese.

In addition to sewage estuaries, there are other pollution-related sources: beach harbors, industrial zones and semi-official landfills for solid waste, including more than 30 years old, such as Burj Hammoud, Kostabrava, Sidon and Tripoli landfills.

Was the goal to announce these results to save the tourist season?

We did not perform these analyzes for commercial or information purposes. We have made this statement to proclaim the truth. This is the statement of the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, who said that pollution exists, but the circular is not correct. We want to explain the truth. The reason is that there is no official institution with the mandate to produce credible results on the sea conditions. It should be noted that we have scientifically determined the coordinates of each point. Tripoli is not all contaminated. Originally nobody has the ability to say that Tripoli is completely clean or all contaminated. So we chose points that are important for people.

The Research Council is the "scientific leader of the state" as you would call it.

We carry out all projects that the state asks us to support. We have specific tasks in the law regarding radiological control over exported and imported materials. As a result of our work in this control, we bring a lot of goods to Lebanon and find that the radiation percentages exceed the generally accepted rates.

Other projects include air pollution, identification of residues of pesticides in fruit and vegetables, determination of the quality of olive oil, measures by ministries to protect the richness of the fish or to determine the consequences for the sea and the Lebanese coast and to identify the erosion level. In addition to everything done by the Center for Geophysics. All this information has no authority or scientific ability to submit only the National Council for Scientific Research. We offer neutral scientific advice to use it as its position.

Solutions for the environmental problems in the country are there?

Solutions exist Yes, and we are part of it.

What is the future of scientific research in Lebanon? What is lacking in the Council to play its role on a larger scale in the era of the technological revolution?

20 years ago, the Council took a different course which it has built up in partnership with research and university institutions in Lebanon. Research projects for this year have reached the equivalent of $ 7 million, although the Council only provides 50%, and the rest of the contributions come from our partners, such as the Francophonie University Agency and others. But we still do not have enough money for existing projects and we have dozens of offers that we can not meet.

So we ask to give us a chance to enter the new scientific hubs that Lebanon needs, whether it concerns dams or the extraction of oil or electricity, or research into the environmental effects of incinerators or thermal disintegration. These projects may not be binding on private companies, but rather on a neutral scientific and scientific party such as the National Research Council.

For example, there is a new program that we want to enter into with universities about the future of jobs in Lebanon and how we can adapt the course of universities to the new jobs.