Dumped rubbish blights new Hai Duong urban area

March 22, 2022 - 01:30 PM

Authorities in the northern province of Hai Duong have just asked the investor in a newly-built urban area to quickly remove huge piles of rubbish that have affected the lives of local residents in the area.

Authorities in the northern province of Hai Duong have just asked the investor in a newly-built urban area to quickly remove huge piles of rubbish that have affected the lives of local residents in the area.

Huge piles of rubbish at the Thai Binh Riverside Ecological Urban Area in Hai Duong Province

Speaking with the Vietnamnet Newspaper on March 21, vice chairman of the Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee, Luu Van Ban, said that they had asked the investor of the Thai Binh Riverside Ecological Urban Area to remove some 5,000 metric tonnes of refuse that are piling up nearby within two months.

"The managers of the urban area have continued to express difficulties for the removal but we insisted they must carry out the work soon," the official said. "We have to give priority to protecting the environment for local people."

According to the Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee, the Thai Binh Riverside Ecological Urban Area party lies on the Soi Nam Dumping Ground in Hai Tan Ward. When the investor started site clearance for the project in 2019, they hired Huy Hoan Co. Ltd., to remove all the waste, including buried refuse from the dumping ground to totally eradicate it.

"At that time, the company calculated that it would have to remove and dispose of around 294,000 metric tonnes of waste," the committee said. "We gave the investor VND220 billion (USD9.56 million) to support them with the waste removal and asked them to complete the work in three years. But the deadline has passed by nearly a year but the waste is still there, badly affecting the lives of local people."

Explaining their slow work, managers of the urban area said that during their work, it turned out that the actual amount of the waste had increased to more than 500,000 metric tonnes.

Director of Huy Hoan Co. Ltd., Phung Van Huy, said that they had built a factory at the site to recycle plastic waste into plastic grains. However, the factory closed six months ago to protect the health of people who live in the nearby areas.

"The local authorities wanted to allow people to come and live in the area right after houses are completed, so we can’t continue operating the factory," he explained. "But all the waste has been preliminarily processed and can be used for plastic production."

At the area, around 5,000 metric tonnes of waste are piled up in large blocks with multiple layers. They can be seen besides houses in the residential area. Some of them are covered or shielded to prevent bad odours from wafting into surrounding areas.

Huy Hoan Company has proposed to hire a land plot of 10,000 square metres in Thanh Ha District or Chi Linh City to relocate the waste while awaiting treatment. They have also sought a license to build a factory to recycle plastic waste into plastic grains at a local industrial zone. However, the Hai Duong Provincial People's Committee turned down all the proposals.

"We’ve requested the company to move all the outstanding waste to other areas before May 15," Ban said.

Source: dtinews.vn

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