Bac Duyen Hai Industrial Park is one of the major industrial, logistics and service centers of Lao Cai.
However, according to reporters' records on June 6, on many internal roads, sidewalks and vacant land areas, piles of domestic waste, packaging, and construction waste appeared scattered.
In some areas, waste accumulates for a long time mixed with tall weeds, creating messy spots right in the middle of the industrial park.
Many people and workers working here said that this situation has been going on for quite a long time but has not been resolved.
Mr. Dang Van Duc - a worker in the industrial park - said that every day he has to go to work through areas where garbage is collected along the road.
This is a large industrial park of Lao Cai province, but many road sections look very dirty. On hot sunny days, waste left for a long time also emits odors, affecting the working environment of workers," Mr. Duc shared.
Similarly, Ms. Tran Thi Hang - a resident living near the area - said that letting waste accumulate for a long time not only spoils the aesthetics but also affects the image of the locality.
This industrial park is located on the road to Kim Thanh Border Gate, working delegations passing by can see it. If the situation of dumping garbage indiscriminately and prolonged without being handled will create a feeling of lack of professionalism," Ms. Hang said.
According to people, most of the garbage here is domestic waste, packaging, plastic bottles... Many cases take advantage of vacant land areas and sparsely populated areas to dump illegally.
After a long period of not being collected, the amount of garbage is increasing, causing offense and affecting the surrounding environment.
Mr. Ha Duc Thuan - Deputy Head of the Economic Zone Management Board of Lao Cai province - admitted that environmental sanitation work at Bac Duyen Hai Industrial Park in the past time has had many limitations. The main reason stems from difficulties in infrastructure maintenance and environmental sanitation costs.
Currently, the maintenance fee for infrastructure and environmental sanitation in the industrial park was built more than 10 years ago, with a collection level of 2,000 VND/m2. This revenue is implemented by the Economic Zone Service Center, but the total revenue each year only reaches a few hundred million VND," Mr. Thuan said.
Difficulties in environmental fee collection
According to the leader of the Lao Cai Provincial Economic Zone Management Board, fee collection is currently facing difficulties when about 40% of businesses have not fulfilled their fee payment obligations.
Many businesses operate at a standstill or almost stop operating after the COVID-19 epidemic, so collecting is very difficult. Even if collected enough, the current funding can only meet about 2 general cleaning campaigns per year," Mr. Thuan explained.
Faced with the above situation, the Management Board of Lao Cai Economic Zone affirmed that it will direct the Economic Zone Service Center to use additional funding sources to increase the number of environmental sanitation trips.
Mr. Thuan emphasized that for Bac Duyen Hai Industrial Park, located on To Hien Thanh street and regularly visited by working delegations of the Party, State, and foreign affairs delegations, the unit has requested to increase the frequency of sanitation to about 3-4 times per year to improve the landscape and environment.
It is known that the Lao Cai Provincial Economic Zone Management Board has currently developed a new price plan for infrastructure maintenance and environmental sanitation services and is waiting for appraisal from departments and branches of Lao Cai province.
