شركة JCC ترد على مقال نيويورك تايمز

A statement issued by JCC sal
In response to the article published in the New York Times

Commenting on the article published in the New York Times on December 3, 2019, we find it necessary to clarify and correct the fallacies and erroneous and misleading information that this article contained, based on the following main points and facts:

On 15/11/2019, the New York Times correspondents Mrs. Hwaida Saad and Mrs. Vivian Yee visited the Company s offices in Beirut and met with the people in charge of managing the waste projects, who showed full cooperation and responsiveness to their demands and gave them accurate and comprehensive answers to their oral and written questions and a detailed and comprehensive explanation of the waste treatment and landfill process and provided them with information about the company s activity and archive since its launch until the date of their visit,

However, we were surprised that the article contained fallacies and erroneous information, contrary to what was explained by the Company s directors to the two correspondents during the meeting between us as well as through the letter that our Company delivered to the two correspondents during the interview, which included answers to all their questions addressed to us on the role of the Company and its method of work in implementing waste treatment projects and sanitary landfills in the Costa Brava. The two correspondents relied on allegations by three persons whose identities were not revealed, which increases doubts about the transparency of the article,
Based on all of the above, we note the following:

A- The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) conducted a public tender for the project of Sorting and Treating of Municipal Solid Waste in the Service Area of Beirut City and Mount Lebanon Areas (Excluding Jbeil Caza) on 08/8/2016. The Company participated in it, as Joint Venture with an internationally classified European Company, that has the required eligibility and qualifications, in competition with several other companies. Our Company won the tender because it offered the lowest price. The Company also won another tender for the project of constructing and operating a sanitary landfill in the Costa Brava area - Ghadir Landfill on 15/7/2016, also because it offered the lowest price among the participants in this tender, which was conducted in the presence of civil society and media outlets.
Consequently, the implicit implications in the article that the Company obtained the projects by mutual consent is the outcome of the article writer s imagination. It is to be noted that our Company submitted various Tenders for similar projects but was not awarded such tenders.

B-The article indicated that the value of the contract for one landfill, that is the Costa Brava landfill, amounted to $288,000,000 (two hundred eighty eight million US dollars). It is important to clarify that it is incorrect to say that this amount is for the works of one landfill. The truth is that this amount covers construction and operation of several projects for a period of four years, which are listed as follows:

A-A contract for project for the Construction and Operation of a temporary sanitary landfill near Al-Ghadir River (Costa Brava), which includes the following:
1-Construction and operation of the Al-Ghadir landfill (Costa Brava), first phase,
2-Construction and operation of the expansion of Al-Ghadir landfill (Costa Brava), second phase,
3-Land Reclamation for an area of 140,000 square meters that is required to construct a wastewater treatment plant in Al-Ghadir area in the future by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR),
B-A contract for the project of Sorting and Treating of Municipal Solid Waste in the Service Area of Beirut City and Mount Lebanon Area (Excluding Caza Jbeil), which includes the following:
1-Operation and maintenance of sorting Facilities in Karantina and Amroussieh for a period of four years,
2-Construction, operation and maintenance of the Coral composting plant.
3-Complete and comprehensive upgrading and modernization of the nine old sorting lines in both Karantina and Amroussieh Facilities,
4-Construction, operation and maintenance of a new additional line in the Karantina sorting plant,
5-Construction, operation and maintenance of a new sorting plant in Amroussieh that includes three additional new sorting lines,
6-Operation of Bsalim landfill for bulky waste.
All of the above are being implemented in order to sort additional quantities of municipal solid waste in accordance with the conditions of contract and modern European specifications. The Company signed a contract at its own expense with a specialized German company in the same field (MVW Letchenberg and Partners) to ensure the quality of work.

C-It is essential to confirm that within the company s wide scope of work is to sort the collected and delivered waste to us by two companies responsible for collecting the waste in the service area before handing it to our Company at the sorting Facilities. Thus, the allegations and accusations mentioned in the article, that the company adds water to the waste in order to increase its weight and thus its profit, are only an attempt to alter the facts for the following clarifications: the Company operates and maintains the Facilities, performs sorting and packing after the waste enters the sorting Facilities. Our Company receives the waste after it has been weighed under the supervision and control of consultants representing the Lebanese Government, the concerned municipalities, and the companies, as well as under the supervision of external third party consultants and auditors. (D.G. JONES & PARTNERS and RAFIK AL-KHOURY & PARTNERS and LACECO)

D-The allegations mentioned in the article, that the (CDR) awarded our Company in 2016 as a solution for the waste crisis without any clarification of the way it was awarded, have led to serious severe moral damage to the Company and its owners. These fabrications that aim at misleading the public opinion and the readers by hinting that there is a kind of complicity between the (CDR) and our Company are unacceptable and false. As such, it must be noted that the mechanism used in this regard is summarized as follows:
-First: The Council of Ministers is responsible for setting the State s or the Government policy regarding waste treatment, and not our Company, which is a contracting company whose scope of work and powers are limited to implementing the conditions of contract for the projects that are prepared by consultants specialized in waste treatment projects.
-Second: the Council of Ministers decided to entrust (CDR) to conduct public tenders for the waste projects in which several companies submitted offers, and the tender was awarded to our Company after it has been pre-qualified and submitted the lowest price as we mentioned above, in an open session without any confidentiality and in the presence of civil society and media outlets.
Hence, the article hinting that there is collusion or prior agreement between the (CDR) and our Company is totally rejected and is considered as malicious rumors that aim to harm the reputation of our Company, which is one of the largest companies and whose history goes back to the eighties of the last century. It must be noted that former Environment Ministers and the current Minister, and several other environmental committees visited the sorting Facilities and the sanitary landfill in the Costa Brava and praised, in live interviews, the good implementation of the work.

E-Regarding the workers in the sorting Facilities, company representatives explained that the amount of waste the Company receives every day exceeds the capacity of the sorting plant, so the working hours were increased daily from 16 hours as specified in the conditions of the contract to 24 hours without asking for any additional financial compensation.

F-The other fallacy is related to the percentage of sorted waste. The article mentioned that the internal data of the factory show that 93% of the waste was being dumped in landfills. This is not true because the process of sorting, treatment and landfilling is being done as stipulated in the contract in accordance with the percentages specified in the terms and conditions of the contract.
It is worth noting again that the Company adheres to the percentages specified in the contract, and if the Company is unable to meet the specified percentages, then it will be subjected to financial penalties in accordance with the penalty clause in the contract.

G-In addition to what has been mentioned previously, the article s claim that the (CDR) fattened the contract of our Company by expanding the landfill, by adding an amount of $161,000,000 (One hundred sixty one million US dollars) is incorrect, whether in terms of taking the expansion decision, or in terms of the amount mentioned, which is included in the amount specified in item B above, for the following reasons:
-First: The decision to expand was taken by the Council of Ministers to mandate the (CDR) to expand the landfill (second phase) with the same company that is executing the first phase after adding the municipal solid waste of Caza Chouf and Aley to the set plan in the absence of a sustainable solution for waste treatment.
-Second: The decision to assign our Company with the expansion was taken by the Council of Ministers that mandated (CDR) as described previously by signing an Addendum to the main contract due to the fact that it is not possible to assign another contractor, since this may cause conflicts in legal responsibilities and daily operations due to the cross liabilities between the work of the first phase and the implementation of the expansion works.
It is worth mentioning that the prices of the first and second phases are considered among the lowest compared to other companies in the local and international markets.
We also want to clarify that our prices for sorting and treatment remain the best and lowest compared to the prices of other companies in the local and international markets.
Based on all of the above, and pursuant to the provisions of laws and general principles, especially the right of expression and the right to respond, we are responding to the content of the article published on December 3, 2019, in order to correct all errors, and put matters in their true and correct framework.