VietNamNet Bridge – Hundreds of local people in Son Tay City and Ba Vi District, Ha Noi, prevented sanitation workers from dumping waste at the Xuan Son dumping ground and the Son Tay waste treatment factory to protest environmental pollution in the area.
The people said their action was a response to the pollution caused by the waste treatment process and the slow implementation of a project to expand the Xuan Son dumping ground.
They urged local authorities to include land clearance compensation, safe-water and electricity supplies and the provision of health care for people living in polluted areas as part of the project.
The Son Tay Urban Work and Environment Company sterilised the area and covered the nearly 400 tonnes of dumped rubbish with a canvas to reduce environmental pollution, said company director Le Van Thuc.
"Local authorities are asking people to let the company’s sanitation workers dump the rubbish and the situation is expected to be solved soon," he said.
In response to residents’ complaints, Son Tay City authorities are working with relevant agencies, particularly the project’s investor, to deal with the situation.
Call for inspection
Following up accusations of environmental pollution by the Son Tay waste treatment factory, Nguyen Quang Manh, chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, said the committee had asked the Ha Noi Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the municipal Environmental Protection Department to inspect the factory.
The city proposed that the factory temporarily stop collecting rubbish in order to focus on treating rubbish that fails to meet dumping standards and pollution caused by smoke from the incinerators. Son Tay City submitted a project to move affected households out of polluted areas to the Ha Noi municipal People’s Committee for approval.
The city entrusted Son Tay’s Safe Water Supply Company to provide water for residents by April 20 and asked local clinics to provide free health check-ups and medicine twice a year.
The Xuan Son dumping ground treats waste for Son Tay City and the six surrounding communes.
It currently covers 13ha and has a capacity of treating more than 80 tonnes of rubbish per day. Once the project is complete, the facility will cover over 25ha.
"The project is aimed at moving local people away from the dumping ground to protect their health and improve the treatment capacity of the Xuan Son dumping ground in order to reduce environmental pollution," Thuc said.
The dumping ground was currently able to treat around 80 per cent of collected rubbish, he said.