Hanoi’s authorities have sent staff to Germany to learn about how to control street cleaning machines properly.
The information was given by the city people’s committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung at a meeting with people in Hoan Kiem District on July 11.
Hanoi uses German street cleaning machines (photo by Lao Dong Thu Do)
At the meeting, Tran Ngoc Toan from Trang Tien Ward mentioned the limited effectiveness of street cleaning machines in Hanoi.
According to Toan, he often saw the machines discharge litter on streets when they are full of waste. They can’t operate on narrow streets or those which have many trees.
Meanwhile, in many streets where these machines can’t operate on, there are also no environmental workers else. It is mainly owners of business services there who often clean streets.
“Whether is it wasteful to use street cleaning machines in this way?” Toan asked.
Chairman Chung admitted limited results of street cleaning over the past year by using these machines which can only operate in wide streets.
Chung said that while controlling the machines, some drivers were found not to adjust brooms properly and if the machines are operated too fast, they also fail to ensure street to be clean. So, the city sent them to Germany for further training to help improve their skills.
Hanoi has received 12 street cleaning machines from Germany’s Hako Group. The machines are among the most advanced in the world.
Early next month, Hako Group will open a representative office in Vietnam, which should make machine repair and maintenance easier.
Each machine can gather around 1.5 cubic metres of litter and dust per day. Each machine can clean 12 kilometres of street every shift, equal to the work by 12 street cleaners, offering potential savings of VND70 billion annually (USD3.18 million).
