Written by Ali Badr al-Din
Translated by YaraBerbery

NNA - Kfour is a town in the district of Nabatiyeh - Lebanon, with a population of nearly four thousand, and where people earn their living from agriculture, military, official, and administrative jobs. Hundreds of its citizens emigrated to Africa, Arab States and Europe.
In Kfour, you can find mosques and churches. Its inhabitants belong to Islamic confessions, Sunnis and Shiites, while the rest are Christians.

The number of municipal members is 12, composed from Shiites, Sunnis and Christians, while the President of the Municipal Council is a Shiite and his deputy is a Christian, in addition to two mayors, a Shiite one and a Christian one.

This promising town represents a model of coexistence and harmony between the components and families who have national, humanitarian and religious values. However, some traders, brokers,as well as suspicious transactions stormed its values and children’s dreams, transforming one of its    beautiful valleys to a landfill, and setting up a factory for waste sorting which was still inactive despite promises and agreements. Thus, the valley was drowned with pollution, damage to the health of people, and distortion of the land, history, and natural prospects. Crops such as olives and figs were damaged due to the pollution of sewages by the slaughterhouses and crushers.

In this valley, which is divided between private property and public property (Property number 1117), wastes from Al-Sakif Municipalities Union and imported wastes were thrown. However, few months ago citizens blocked the road leading to the valley in front of waste trucks.

A summed-up statistic showed that farms for cows and chicken, as well as slaughterhouses, cement mixers, and crushers situated next to the valley, are not in conformity with environmental and health standards, according to mayor Hussein Mohammed Matar, who stressed that the municipality of Kfour was a rich one, but had no services at all levels.

The valley of Kfour became one of the known monuments in the South and on the national level. The beauty of this place disappeared with the current waste crisis and the distribution of trashes regionally, religiously and ideologically, by suggesting the valley as an option to the intractable crisis. This option was rejected by Kfour citizens, and it was a firm decision regardless of the pressure.

The question then arises as to will people and municipalities hold on to their refusal? Or will someone influence their decision?