Official urges new waste strategy

Urban waste treatment should be handed over to private operators since public facilities have proved inefficient, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has said.

Speaking at a meeting with HCM City and Long An Province officials at the Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in HCM City's Binh Chanh District last Saturday, he said: "The models of public operation of waste treatment has not been successful, and so we should encourage private firms who have sufficient resources and advanced technologies to invest in this sector."

There are 458 dumping sites in the country at present but only 26 of them are environmentally safe, he pointed out.


He said Da Phuoc's waste treatment facility operated by the Viet Nam Waste Solutions Inc (VWS) is appropriate for the country and should be supported by relevant authorities.

Da Phuoc has a daily processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes of waste but now gets a mere 3,000 tonnes a day, he said.

To reduce the pressure on dumps using outdated technologies, he ordered HCM City authorities to send more waste to Da Phuoc, increasing the volume it treats to 7,000 tonnes per day.

Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of the city People's Committee, said Phuoc Hiep dump in Cu Chi District should be closed down due the environmental problems its outdated technology causes.

The 3,000 tonnes it currently treats daily would be transferred to Da Phuoc instead, he said.

To resolve the problems that could arise after the closure of Phuoc Hiep, Da Phuoc would offer jobs to its 300-odd workers, Huynh Thi Lan Phuong, deputy general director of VWS, said.

Phuong also unveiled plans to set up a green waste-treatment plant in Long An Province.

Located on 1,760 hectares in Tan Lap commune in Thu Thua District, the plant will use advanced technologies from the US to treat solid waste, including industrial, medical, and household wastes from eight provinces in the Southern Key Economic Zone.

To cost $700 million, the plant will employ 6,000 to 10,000 workers and handle 40,000 tonnes of waste per day.

But its construction has been delayed due to paper work, Phuong said.

"It took us 15 months to [get permission to] adjust the registered capital of the project.

"We have asked relevant authorities to make it faster."

Hai approved of VWS's green waste-treatment plant in Long An and ordered HCM City and Long An authorities to complete all formalities so that the company can start working on it.