From tourist attractions to hospital and school gates
In mid-July, a Portuguese tourist and his family came to Can Tho to travel, expressing their regret to us: "The scenery of the land is peaceful but unfortunately there is still a lot of garbage...".
Worse, garbage is flooding in front of hospitals and schools, directly affecting the health of local people.
A typical example is the temporary garbage collection point in front of the gate of Can Tho Traditional Medicine Hospital (3/2 Street) that has not been relocated for many years.
On Tran Quang Dieu Street, a spontaneous landfill appeared in front of the gate of An Thoi Secondary School. According to local people, there were only a few small bags of garbage here at first, but like the " domino effect", the amount of garbage is still generated from people who conveniently throw away.
Garbage at gateways and residential areas
Vo Van Kiet Street, the main route connecting the city center to Can Tho International Airport, is being "attacked" by waste.
The foot of Hung Loi Bridge, the gateway to welcome people from the provinces and cities of the Southeast to Can Tho, is also a terrible garbage collection point.
Cutting Vo Van Kiet Street is Le Phuoc Tho Street, connecting Cach Mang Thang Tam Street to Provincial Road 918, also showing many spontaneous landfills on the sidewalk. In particular, the border between Binh Thuy ward and Long Tuyen ward is bordered by a dense canal with garbage floating everywhere.
Informing us, Mr. Truong Minh Duc - Vice Chairman of Long Tuyen Ward People's Committee - said that because this is a new route, not included in the planning of the garbage collection route, it is still difficult to handle. The ward has also repeatedly launched a campaign to clean up and propagate to call on people to leave garbage in the right place, but it has been happening again every few days.
According to Mr. Duc, for the collection, transportation and treatment of domestic solid waste, the People's Committees at the commune level are currently assigned two tasks: strengthening propaganda work and coordinating the supervision of collection work, and having solutions to strictly handle violations of waste discharge in the wrong place.
Thus, when receiving feedback related to the problem of waste congestion or service providers, the ward will report to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho.
The widespread situation of waste is also a common concern in residential areas and resettlement areas.
In the An Binh resettlement area, people are upset because the garbage gives off a strong stench because there is no unit responsible for collecting it. "We need to collect garbage, even willing to spend 100,000 VND/month to pay for garbage but why won't anyone take it?" - people are upset.
Even in residential areas planned for garbage collection such as Hung Phu 1, spontaneous landfills still grow.
Mr. Nguyen Duy Khang - Deputy Head of the Urban Environment Enterprise, Can Tho Urban Joint Stock Company - said that at first this place was a bulky collection point for waste, gradually people brought household waste, broken doors, and cabinets to dump.
"Without human resources and means, we cannot handle it all" - Mr. Khang said.
Waste "stuck" rivers and canals
Can Tho City is characterized by a network of muddy rivers and canals, but sadly, the "backbone" of the city is also a garbage storage place. Most obviously, at Cai Rang floating market, the tourist destination has been "turned around" and reported by tourists many times.
Discussing this issue, the Board of Directors of Mekong Silt Ecolodge Resort revealed that through tour guides, the unit has received many responses from international visitors about the habit of people in Can Tho littering the river.
Or right in the inner city of the city, Tham Tuong canal (Ninh Kieu ward) is full of garbage with black, thick, thick water that has long been very familiar to Can Tho people. No longer having memories of the gentle canal, people are practicing living with garbage.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh - Vice Chairman of Ninh Kieu Ward People's Committee - said that in the past, collection companies were not able to collect garbage in time, causing garbage to stagnate. Ninh Kieu Ward has received many petitions and calls from people, especially on Mac Thien Tich Street, including Tham Tuong Canal.
contacting Can Tho Urban Construction Company, a representative of the Board of Directors said that according to regulations, the unit only collects household waste and leaves it in front of the house. However, there are cases where people dump garbage arbitrarily, making it very difficult to collect.
In addition, the unit price for collecting and transporting household waste in Can Tho City has been around since 2016, at the price of 20,000 VND (on main roads) and 10,000 VND (in alleys) per month, and is now outdated. The unit has repeatedly petitioned superiors to consider increasing unit prices but has not yet been approved. Currently, the company is facing financial difficulties.
