HA NOI (VNS) — Nguyen Van Binh, a 69-year-old man living in the capital’s Thach That District, said he felt very bad about the area surrounding where he lives.
He said he and other people in the area had been living with trash surrounding their community for almost ten years.
“Waste from craft villages, workshops and households are all thrown onto the street. Flies are all over our houses when summer comes,” Binh said, regarding the road connecting his Thai Hoa hamlet in Binh Phu Commune and the adjacent Gieng hamlet in Huu Bang Commune.
Sadly, what Binh described is not a rare sight in the district, as the suburban area is seeing more industrialisation while leaving behind roads drowning in piles of garbage.
After almost a decade, Voi dyke route has been transformed into a refuse collecting site where local residents from the neighbouring Kim Quan and Lien Quan Communes throw garbage.
In fact, trash covers almost half of Dong Xa road in Kim Quan Commune. People say the road was originally a refuse collecting site, but a twice-monthly garbage collection truck seemed not frequent enough, causing trash to pile higher every day.
In the same vein, the route runs through three communes, Huong Ngai, Canh Nau and Di Nau, which is blocked by waste, both on and along the road.
Heavy smoke from burning garbage adds to the odour and jammed traffic to make this entry road to Canh Nau Commune a hot spot of environmental pollution.
Compounding matters, people continue discarding trash wherever they choose.
“Not only are people suffered from the trash, but rice and corn fields are now being harmed. People turned to the fields to discard garbage, as there was no more room to throw garbage. Trash is filling up the channels and taking over our fields,” complained Can Thi Thu, who is erecting canvas to protect her paddy fields from trash in Phu Kim Commune.
Though the issue has been raised many times, local authorities have still not proposed a solution.
According to Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai, an official of Thach That District’s Division of Natural Resources and Environment, carts are mainly used to collect waste once every two days, or once a day in communes that dispose of large amounts of trash.
“A part of the waste from craft villages, such as sawdust and shredded wood, can be recycled, but most are heaped together with household waste. Too much waste from these villages, along with sitting trash and limited disposal locations, resulted in roads being filled by garbage. The waste disposal capacity is being overloaded,” she added.
Approximately 80 tonnes of waste is disposed of every day, yet only 18 out of 23 communes and towns in Thach That District have garbage collectors.
A waste disposal factory, 10 hectares in width and capable of handling 100 tonnes of trash per day, was planned, but has not been built. In the meantime, local authorities are looking for a more advanced technology that is suitable for the district.
“The municipal authorities should find ways for planning and for more investment in new refuse collection locations. Also, the waste disposal capacity should be increased. In the meantime, it is important to invest in more advanced waste disposal technologies, in small and middle ranges, as well as building a model for collective waste disposal. That is the only way to address the overwhelming trash backlog situation,” Hoai said. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
