As the country of Lebanon sees its population of 4 million continue grow with Syrian refugees, citizens and government officials watch something else grow: garbage. Trash has piled high in landfills. It now occupies the streets and neighborhoods of the country -- especially in the city of Beirut -- leaving people to suffer from the overwhelming stench. The steaming piles of trash, which baked in the summer sun, have quickly transformed into streams of rubbish as the seasonal rainfall turns streets into waterways. The piles of garbage attract rodents, feral cats and bugs to suburbs. Average alleyways and sidewalks have become centers for disease, compromising the health of citizens.

The struggle began when the capital’s primary landfill closed and the waste company refused to dispose of the garbage, saying there was nowhere to put it. While the government was aware of the landfill closing, they prepared no alternative, and the garbage was simply left to gather in the streets.

The primary cause of the uncollected waste is the political conflict occurring within the government. Lebanon’s government, which just recently elected Michel Aoun as president after nearly two years of an office vacancy, lacks stability. The corruption seeping into the system has left politicians uncompromising and apathetic toward the people. Protesters have gathered around government buildings as a part of the You Stink movement, ordering for hygienic waste disposal systems that do not compromise the health of the people or the environment.

While reforms are being made to quell the crisis in the short term, many will still be left dissatisfied until a lasting solution to treating the country’s waste can be implemented.