Mayssam Zaaroura, Environment Hotline's coordinator at Daily Star, March 3rd, 2005.

"In a unique move in Lebanon, environmentalists have launched a hotline for concerned citizens to call about environmental problems affecting their every day life.
Al-Bia Wal Tanmia Magazine (Environment and Development Magazine) came up with the idea of the "Environment Hotline" as an outlet for Lebanese people with daily complaints. The idea aims at raising "civic awareness on environmental abuses and pave the way for transparency and accountability in handling environmental issues."
The hotline, which is run in collaboration with the Lebanese Appropriate Technology Association and is jointly financed by USAID and AMIDEAST, kicked off Tuesday at the magazine's offices.
According to the editor in chief of Al-Bia Wal Tanmia, Najib Saab, this hotline was created for the people to feel that there is someone taking care of their environmental issues and making an effort to bring the problems to light.
The hotline currently has enough funding for six months and the Environment Ministry is not fully involved so that the hotline is not censored by the government and has the freedom to expose ministerial environmental breaches.
Environmentalists running the day-to-day technicalities of the program are also working with a group of specialized experts who will be carrying out field investigations to assess the situation and recommend feasible measures to solve possible problems
Meetings with officials, members of Parliament and ministers will also be organized to relay environmental concerns and work out solutions.
However, despite the fact that the hotline is able to solve small environmental problems in a relatively fast measure, larger environmental problems usually take a longer time to solve.
In cases such as illegal rock and sand quarries, the Sidon and Naahme dumps and sand looting along the coast, the hotline's investigative team opts for more radical solutions that aim at bringing the problems out to light and pressuring those responsible to find swift solutions.
A monthly report will also be published to shed light on the main environmental abuses exposed. Major newspapers, such as An-Nahar and The Daily Star, as well as Future Television station and Voice of Lebanon radio station, have become involved in the hotline to uncover pressing environmental concerns in their daily articles and programs.
"In an attempt to save the Lebanese environment, the hotline aims at influencing decision makers to design more effective environmental policies," added Saab.
However, awareness campaigns are to be held simultaneously as the hotline is working for teachers, students and concerned Non-Governmental Organizations so people won't abuse the service and are aware which problems deserve the hotline's attention.
Citizens are asked to call the environmental hotline on 01-210510 or visit the magazine's Web site on www.mectat.com.lb".