Vo Van Hoan, chief of office at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has confirmed that the foul odour affecting several districts since late August comes from the Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex.
It was announced at a regular press conference on September 29.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment was flooded with complaints about the smell from people living in District 7, Nha Be and Binh Chanh districts since August 30. Local people already suspected that the smell came from Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex.
Vo Van Hoan, chief of office at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee (left)
The local authorities then carried out an extended search for the smell that was plaguing the city's southern area. According to the locals, the odour only appeared for 10 to 15 minutes, would disappear and then return again at different times of the day. But mostly the odour appeared from 6pm until 4am.
"Most people said it was the smell of rubbish," Hoan said. "After monitoring Da Phuoc's operation, it looks like the wastewater tank and the rubbish pit of Da Phuoc's operator, Vietnam Waste Solution Co., are the causes of the problem. Two other companies are also carrying out sludge treatment but the smell is light by comparison."
However, Hoan said this was not an environmental disaster because the smell appeared at different times and depended on the wind direction. "This is a technical and management problem," he said.
The foul smell comes from Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex
The city people's committee have asked agencies to tighten monitoring process. Vietnam Waste Solutions also have measures to curb the problem and the situation has improved.
Hoan went on to say that the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and authorities of Binh Chanh District were carrying out ground clearance to create a green barrier. Meanwhile, they have proposed to quickly build another rubbish site in Long An Province to ease overloading in the city and called for more investment into this sector.
"The classification process will be carried out more tightly to find more recycled rubbish and limit the amount of buried waste. Vietnam Waste Solutions were asked to plant 46 hectares of trees as odour-barrier," he said.
