By DailyStar.com.lb
BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities began installing additional bird repellers Thursday at the Beirut international airport to drive circling birds away, as officials dismissed claims that a nearby landfill was causing the problem. The ultrasonic devices, which will be installed on the eastern and western runway, as well as the facility’s perimeter, are meant to improve safety for airplanes taking off and landing. The airport has just two repellers at the moment. The airport will have 14 once the project is completed.
Flight safety in and out of Lebanon came into question after multiple sources confirmed instances of birds hitting planes during takeoff. A departing plane reportedly experienced difficulties Tuesday due to gulls before managing to take safely, an airport source told The Daily Star Wednesday. A separate high-ranking official at the airport confirmed a similar incident.
“There’s something that is called ‘bird strikes’ when some planes hit [gulls],” the senior airport official told The Daily Star. When asked whether a “bird strike” had occurred this week, the source said that it had, adding that it happened with “one of the Gulf airlines.” Environmentalists say that the nearby Costa Brava landfill is attracting birds. As well as creating an environmental risk, they contend that the dump poses a danger to airplanes using the airport.
Mount Lebanon Judge of urgent matters Hasan Hamdan Wednesday evening ordered the temporary closure of the Costa Brava landfill site south of Beirut as a precautionary measure.
Environment Minister Tarek Khatib, accompanied by Beirut Mayor Jamal Itani, toured the landfill on Thursday.
"As you can see, there are no birds flying over the landfill. They are mostly near the Ghadir River estuary," the minister said.
However, an environmentalist at the scene disputed the minister’s claim.
"The birds didn't exist before the landfill was established," the environmentalist argued.
Authorities insist that the landfill does not attract birds.
The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) said in a statement Thursday that the "bird problem at the perimeter of Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport was chronic due to the presence of several factors attracting them."
It pointed out that measures have been taken at the landfill so that it doesn’t attract foraging birds, noting that there were no birds flying over the machines or vehicles at the dump.
The statement said that three factors were attracting birds to the airport, including the Ghadir River estuary.
The council recommended that ultrasonic equipment is installed to repel the birds and that the landfill be sanitized.
Thursday’s action comes one day after Prime Minister Saad Hariri ordered the installation of bird repellers.
Meanwhile, waste will continue to be taken to the Costa Brava landfill as the order to close the dump isn’t yet binding, lessening the likelihood that trash will accumulate in the streets once again, a judicial source told The Daily Star.
This isn’t the first time aviation safety at Beirut’s airport has been questioned since former Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s government approved a trash plan in 2016, which established the temporary Costa Brava landfill.
Civil society groups have long warned of the potential danger caused by establishing a landfill close to the airport.
The Cabinet plan came after Lebanon suffered months of crisis though the latter half of 2015, which saw trash pile up in the capital’s streets. The crisis was sparked by the closure of the Naameh landfill in July 2015 with no alternative site.
The Al-Jihad Group, which was awarded the contract for the construction of the Costa Brava landfill as well as another in Burj Hammoud, was informed of the closure on Thursday.
Khatib dismissed fears that the country is on the verge of another trash crisis.
“We can’t say anything before we are informed about the decision and get acquainted with it,” he said of the closure order. “There are legal measures which the decision is subject to,” Khatib told The Daily Star on Wednesday. “Why should there be fears? We need to know the decision’s content.”
Later Thursday evening, Hariri headed a meeting in the Grand Serail attended by Khatib and Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos to discuss the dilemma of seagulls over the Costa Brava landfill and the airport.
?After the meeting, Fenianos said that the government will be taking immediate actions to resolve the current seagull problem.
"Bird repellers are already found around the airport, and four new machines were installed on Thursday," he said.
The water pits around the airport full of mud where the seagulls take as a habitat were also covered with dirt, the minister said.
Fenianos said that the issue was complicated as people flying pigeons in the areas surrounding the airport where flights are delayed sometimes until an airport employee scares the birds away.
There are poultry and cattle farms around the airport causing birds to lurk nearby the airport, the minister pointed out.
Fenianos added that officials requested the judge of urgent matters to reverse his decisionb to close the dump.
"CDR is ready... and we agreed to take measures regarding the Ghadir River estuary," the minister said.
The meeting was also attended by CDR head Nabil Jisr, chairman of Lebanon's national airliner Mohammed Hout and Hariri's advisor for developmental affairs, Fadi Fawaz.
