BEIRUT: Sidon’s Mayor Mohammad Saudi said Tuesday that the southern city was very close to getting rid of its notorious dump. He was speaking at a training workshop for the administrative committee in charge of a plan for the city’s urban development. Saudi praised “the efforts made to ensure the success of the workshop which is a step toward improving the city’s urban development,” adding that Sidon “deserves all attention because it is a city that blends the civilization of the past with the prospects of the future.” Saudi stressed that Sidon was nearing its “most important environmental achievement – getting rid of its waste dump.” He said that the dump was an environmental disaster that had exhausted the city, its residents and neighboring areas for over 40 years.