Mounting domestic waste in rural areas of Thua Thien Hue Province is posing a major environmental threat.
Uncollected waste
According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the central province of Thua Thien Hue, rural areas in the locality have discarded 150 tonnes of domestic waste per day.
Waste at an open-air dumping ground in Phu Vang District is collected once every three days, causing environmental pollution
Of the total waste, only nearly 30% is collected while the remainder has been scattered across the province.
To date, only 30 communes province-wide have set up waste collection groups but many others are directly discharging untreated waste into public places and local waterways.
In many places, despite waste being collected, none of it has been treatment. Instead rubbish dumps have developed near to residential areas, causing serious environmental pollution.
Waste from local markets and residue from local animal breeding facilities are also adding to the pollution.
According to the department, low pay for environmental workers is among major cause of the situation. Environmental fees paid by local people are just enough to pay for those who collect waste. They have no additional funding for waste treatment.
The department’s Director Nguyen Dinh Dau suggested that each commune should build their own dumping ground, along with waste deposit sites. Each district should have a waste treatment facility while the province should build a waste treatment complex to ease the current environmental pollution.
Provincial People’s Council Secretary Nguyen Ngoc Thien said, “The province will prioritise a waste treatment project for rural areas in the time to come.”
Illegal sand exploitation
Residue from illegal sand exploitation sites have added to the environmental threat posed in Thua Thien Hue.
Illegal sand exploitation has added to the threat to the environment
Dau said that illegal sand exploiters have switched to use motorised equipment to gain bigger profits, which in turn has led to increased erosion. Four big spots along the Perfume (Huong) and Bo rivers have been used for illegal sand exploitation.
In the meantime, local authorities have aided sand exploiters by illicitly leasing land for their activities.
The situation is partially attributed to the sharp rise in demand for sand and stone for construction in recent years. The province needs around 1.3 million cubic metres of sand and 300,000 cubic metres of stones per year.
To deal with the problem, Phan Ngoc Tho, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, called for research into the use of modern technology to process stones into construction sand in the time to come.
According to Thien, an audit would be undertaken of sand exploitation sites in the province to heighten environmental protection awareness.