Residents in Co Thanh Ward, Chi Linh City, Hai Duong Province have recently reported that there is no centralized waste treatment system in the ward. Garbage dumps often burn garbage, causing an unpleasant smell for many days, affecting the health of people in the area.
According to Lao Dong on October 31, at concentrated landfills, many people have arbitrarily burned garbage with the aim of reducing the amount of garbage accumulation. However, burning garbage causes an unpleasant, extremely strong smell.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Nam Dong village, Co Thanh ward said that every time garbage is burned, the smoke from the fires carries a strong stench that spreads throughout the ward, making the air stuffy and difficult to breathe.
"In recent days, there has been strong wind, my family always has to keep the doors closed and limit going out because the stench from burning garbage wafts into the house, making everyone feel nauseous and uncomfortable," Ms. Phuong added.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, Nam Doai village, Co Thanh ward shared that because the garbage at the village's collection site is increasing and cannot be taken elsewhere for treatment, if it continues to pile up like that, it will be extremely polluted. Many people proactively burn garbage to limit the accumulation of garbage, but this is harmful to health if the smell of burning garbage drifts into people's homes.
“People have also petitioned many times, hoping that the local government will arrange a centralized landfill for the entire ward or have a plan to collect garbage and take it elsewhere for treatment, but so far they have not received any information,” Mr. Tung shared.
According to Mr. Vu Van Cuong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Co Thanh Ward (Chi Linh City, Hai Duong Province), the ward's centralized landfill has fallen into a state of serious overload, the ward has arranged separate landfills for each village. These landfills are located far from residential areas to minimize environmental impacts. Many people are worried that these landfills will be overloaded, so they burn garbage on their own.
Currently, both Co Thanh ward and Chi Linh city do not have a waste treatment system that meets the growing needs of the locality. To solve this problem, the ward has proactively proposed a plan to transport waste to a waste treatment plant in Quang Ninh. However, due to the high cost of transporting waste to Quang Ninh, this proposal has not received consensus from the people.
Mr. Cuong said that the local government has asked people not to burn garbage at landfills. At the same time, to reduce pressure on landfills, the Co Thanh ward government has advised people to classify waste at source, and encouraged the classification of organic and inorganic waste before dumping.
