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October 18,
2005
Environmental groups left out of ministry talks
By Hania Taan
BEIRUT : Environmental associations across the country expressed outrage at their exclusion from the drafting of environmental policies in Lebanon . In a statement issued Monday, the leading environmental associations, including the Green Line Association, Greenpeace, the Lebanese Gathering for Environmental Protection, and 10 other groups, said they had not been invited to a recent meeting organized by the Environment Ministry entitled "the national plan of action to protect the Mediterranean Sea from pollution."
The associations called a meeting to discuss what they see as an ongoing tendency to exclude the various representatives of civil society who have "struggled over the years to raise the awareness of the Lebanese public regarding the importance of our beaches."
"There seems to be some sort of an unannounced policy towards civil society associations; this was not the first time this has happened," said the statement.
Participants said they believed the deliberate and continuous indifference toward civil society associations, particularly activists concerned with the condition of the beaches and other issues such as solid waste and transport pollution, was aimed at quashing projects that might raise the people's expectations about what their rights entitle them to.
The issue of donor parties was also raised several times at the meeting, as many who attended felt the projects that were put forward "only serve the interests of large donor parties, such as USAID, and private consultative offices that commission studies in return for money."
The associations urged the Environment Ministry to correct its position and begin considering those civil society associations concerned with environmental issues as partners in all considerations concerning the environment.
"This flow of funds by donor parties, accompanied by unannounced policies that do not always coincide with the people's interest, constitute a real threat that needs to be confronted," said one of the participants.