Trash crisis shuts down Lebanon highway

BEIRUT — Protesters have closed the highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon over the country’s trash crisis.

The closure of the vital highway in the coastal town of Jiyeh on Sunday comes amid reports that the government plans to move trash piled on the streets of Beirut to the Kharoub region south of the capital.

The protesters stopped several trucks carrying trash and prevented them from entering the region. The closure led to major traffic jams, and authorities urged people not to use the highway.

The main company in charge of collecting trash stopped its work earlier this month amid a dispute over the country’s largest trash dump. Mountains of garbage have piled up in Beirut and its suburbs.

A Syrian boy watches vehicles driving past dumpsters and a pile of garbage in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, July 26, 2015 (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The country’s notoriously gridlocked government postponed further discussion of the crisis until Tuesday.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.