Hundreds of local people in Hanoi's Chuong My District have gathered to protest against a waste treatment plant project at the foot of Thoong Mountain due to fears of environmental pollution.
People stay at the construction site to oppose the plant
On August 3, when the construction unit started preparing their work, hundreds of people left their fields and houses to gather at the site. Since then, dozens of people have brought food to stay overnight at the site regularly. They have even blocked the road with rocks and called on other people out to help prevent the rubbish trucks from entering.
Nguyen Thi To, 66, said the solid waste treatment project at Thoong Mountain has been invested by the Xuan Mai Urban Environment Company. In 2008 the firm was blamed for contamination after buried waste leaked from the site. All six villages in Tan Tien Commune and even neighbouring communes were affected because the rubbish was buried upstream of an underground water source. The waste water from the pit leaked through the ground and into the water. Farmers lost crops and their well water turned black.
"We didn't even dare to walk out of the house because of the horrible smell. Children and old people were always itchy and had rashes. No one wants another rubbish site near here. Who can say that a similar incident won't happen?" she said.
Nguyen Thi Ve, 82, also said the incident had left a haunting memory. Even though she is not sure if the leak is the real cause of the problem but many people died of cancer after that. She also lost two sons to lung cancer and she felt it hard to breathe recently.
The new rubbish pit is not far away from the old waste dump and has the capacity to deal with 240 tonnes of waste per day. Many locals believe the waste water could leak through the ground again and this is not a good location to build a waste treatment plant.
"The local authorities didn't even inform us or gather our opinions about their plans to build a waste treatment plant there. We hope they will do more research and relocate the plant," another local, Nguyen Duc Thuan said.
Nguyen Huu Dinh, vice chairman of Tan Tien Commune, said the solid waste treatment facility was approved by Chuong My District authorities in 2007. In the first planning, the facility only occupied two hectares of land but was later expanded to ten hectares.
After the incident in 2008, Hanoi authorities invested VND6.5bn (USD295,400) in upgrading the rubbish pits and dug a third pit along with building a drainage system around the facility to prevent polluted water from entering residential areas and build a facility to deal with waste water from the rubbish pits. When it was re-opened recently, it faced opposition from local people.
Dinh said they had tried to persuade the people to no avail. "The facility is part of the Hanoi solid waste treatment plan toward 2030 and with a view to 2050. We are communal authorities and only follow the directives," he said.
