Environmental pollution is plaguing residents in Danang City as a water drainage project has met difficulties in site clearance.
Polluted water in Da Co
Work began on the the Da Co water drainage system in Lien Chieu District in March 2011 but remains incomplete.
The water drainage system will connect with the drainage system in Hoa Minh Ward and run into Phu Loc River.
According to the original plan the drainage system would run for 1.2 kilometres, but the first 400 metres from Da Co Bridge to Hoan Phu Lake remains still under construction. According to the plan, the old stream would be filled in and a new channel constructed. However, because of the slow pace of the work, stagnant water has not being able to drain and sewers discharge directly into the river.
Phan Chau Son, a local said, "During hot days, the stink is unbearable, but during the rainy season it could be worse, with the polluted water flooding our homes.”
Son also said a pig slaughterhouse and car factory located upstream also discharged their waste which ran down to Da Co.
Other residents said they rarely experience flooding before, but now, even with the smallest of rain, floods affect the whole neighbourhood.
Mai Ma, Director of Danang Waste-water Treatment Company said currently there is no system to channel the waste-water from Hoa Khanh Nam Ward. "The waste-water has been discharged into the drainage system for many years." he said.
Most of waste-water from Da Son, Khanh Son and Chon Tam Commune is directly discharged to Da Co water drainage. Although the local authorities have introduced preferential policies to build waste-water treatment systems for drainage such as at Da Co or Phu Loc, the work has yet to be completed.
One of the reasons for the slow progress is the lack of ground clearance work. Truong Van Dung, Vice Chairman of Hoa Khanh People's Committee said that "Only two out of 14 households that live on the planned construction site have agreed to the compensation package and moved out. Most of the remaining households have farming land so they don’t want to move to an apartment complex but instead want a resettlement area. We are still trying to persuade them."
Hong Vinh Hien, Deputy Head of Infrastructure Project Management Unit said, "We have countered many problems with this project. We already filled up the old stream but we can’t start the new channel located in the residential area if people refuse to move out."
The residents are also concerned about the ground clearance and compensation, a local said, "It's not that we don't want to move. We want to, but we make our livings from agriculture and rent rooms to students. Now they want us to move to an apartment block, and we’re unclear about how we’re supposed to make a living. We want land but they refused."
Dung said he had received some complaints about the Da Co drainage project, and referred the case to higher authorities in the search for a solution.
Discharged sewage
The old stream has been filled up
