Garbage piled up into "mountains"
Walking along Thang Long Boulevard in both directions, it is not difficult to see piles of household waste and construction waste scattered on the sidewalk. All are "products" of illegal dumping.
There is newly dumped garbage, and there is also garbage that has been dumped for a long time without being cleaned up. Just look at the image of vines and weeds growing wildly on the pile of garbage to know.
Angry at the "indiscriminate" dumping of garbage on the sidewalk, even on the street, but no one is handling it, Mr. Nguyen Van Can (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) said that most of the subjects often dump garbage at night, because every night there is a new pile of garbage.
"Garbage spilled onto the street, sometimes bricks and stones, is very dangerous for people passing by. Not to mention many piles of garbage are fruits and vegetables left for a long time, giving off a foul smell," Mr. Can shared.
According to the reporter's records, the sidewalk of Thang Long Avenue through Song Phuong commune (Hoai Duc district) is very "hot" about the situation of illegally dumped garbage.
Among them, locations such as around Song Phuong commune cemetery; the section from Song Phuong dike to Song Phuong overpass; next to K12+900 gas station on Thang Long Boulevard... are where the most waste is concentrated.
Sharing with reporters, Mr. Nguyen Dac Doan - owner of a garden along Thang Long Avenue (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) said that many times when he went out to work in the garden at noon, he saw some vendors dumping garbage near his garden.
"When I encounter such cases, I remind them to be more conscious and to throw their trash in the right place. Many people stop throwing their trash when reminded, but after a few days, it's back to normal.
As for construction waste, the illegal dumping subjects are very sophisticated, they often dump late at night, when the streets are almost deserted. Their illegal dumping also happens very quickly," Mr. Doan shared.
Easy to see but difficult to handle
Working with reporters from Lao Dong Newspaper, leaders of Song Phuong Commune People's Committee confirmed that there was illegal dumping of household waste and refuse on the sidewalk of Thang Long Boulevard's service road through the commune.
According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Chien - Vice Chairman of Song Phuong Commune People's Committee, after receiving feedback from voters and the press, the leaders of the Commune People's Committee established a Working Group to verify the locations where garbage is being illegally dumped, and delimit the area to take remedial and handling measures.
The inspection results show that the current locations where there is illegal dumping of household waste are concentrated in the area that the locality is handing over to the contractor for the Ring Road 4 project. Song Phuong Commune also received a request from the above contractor to coordinate to overcome and find solutions to prevent illegal dumping of waste.
According to Mr. Chien, Song Phuong commune is a large area with convenient traffic routes. Taking advantage of that factor, criminals often illegally dump garbage, mud, solid waste, and construction debris.
The illegal dumping subjects are very aggressive, dumping with heavy trucks, large volumes, mainly taking advantage of the night to illegally dump, from Song Phuong Dike down to near Song Day Bridge; Mom Bo area; the top of Phuong Vien Cemetery slope; the district road from the top of Phuong Bang Dike down to Phuong Bang overpass to Van Con commune... Besides, the work of ambushing, filming, taking photos to handle the subjects, applying legal sanctions to handle violations of the commune still has many limitations.
"For example, on the night and early morning of August 14, 2024, we conducted an ambush and caught a subject who was dumping waste in Cua Cau area. However, due to the rain and at night, the subject resolutely resisted and did not cooperate with the reason that he turned around and the vehicle got stuck in the mud. There were no images of the vehicle dumping waste, so handling it according to the law was very difficult," Mr. Chien informed.
Regarding the plan to handle the remaining waste, Song Phuong Commune People's Committee is coordinating with a collection unit, however, it can only temporarily handle household waste.
"The volume of waste is very large, if we want to process it, we need to have costs and a collection location. However, the local budget is limited, we will report to the higher levels to have a plan for direction and support.
In the immediate future, we will continue to deploy patrol teams, especially at night. Although the officers, especially the grassroots security forces, are very tired, sometimes they have to lie in wait until 4-5am without any additional support costs. Everyone also encourages each other to try to complete the task well," Mr. Chien shared.
Although everyone can see the piles of garbage along the road, it is not easy to completely handle it. It requires close coordination between units, levels, and sectors.
