Since the end of June, the Van Phong irrigation canal system flowing through Binh An, Binh Hiep, Hoa Hoi communes... (Gia Lai province) has been facing serious pollution due to dead pigs being thrown haphazardly into the canal bed, giving off a foul smell, especially at garbage nets and canal discharge gates.
Many dead pigs are in the process of decomposing strongly, bulging, giving off a strong stench and getting stuck at the discharge gates, most concentrated in the section flowing through Binh Hiep and Binh An communes.
Talking with Lao Dong, Mr. Le Ha An - Chairman of Binh Hiep Commune People's Committee - confirmed that recently, there has been a situation where people in the commune secretly dump dead pigs into Van Phong canal, causing environmental pollution.
"There are many dead pigs drifting along the Van Phong canal from other localities through the commune, combined with the people in the commune secretly throwing the pigs into the canal, making the handling very difficult. We have dug centralized landfills and informed people to bring dead pigs here for handling according to regulations.
At the same time, the commune sent forces to monitor, promptly detect, prevent and handle violations to deter. This afternoon, Binh Hiep commune will coordinate with Binh An and Hoa Hoi communes to discuss a final handling plan," said Mr. An.
Mr. Mai Xuan Hau - Chairman of Binh An Commune People's Committee - said that in the past 2 days, the commune has sent forces to handle and collect the dead pigs floating in Van Phong canal. However, people's awareness is still limited, there is still a situation of secretly dumping dead pigs. The commune has also arranged burial pits to handle dead pigs according to regulations.
Mr. Nguyen Van Luong - Director of V Irrigation Enterprise (Gia Lai Irrigation Works Exploitation Company Limited), the unit managing the Van Phong canal - said that the situation of dead pigs dumped into the canal started from the end of June and increased a lot from the beginning of July.
"The company's workers continuously remove the pigs from the shore to avoid flow congestion and limit environmental pollution. However, the number of dead pigs is very large, some are heavy, causing a strong stench," said Mr. Luong.
According to Mr. Luong, the unit has reported to the authorities of Binh Hiep and Binh An communes, requesting to increase propaganda and handle the acts of throwing dead pigs into the ditch. However, the situation is not over yet.
Regarding this issue, the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai province said that it is not yet possible to confirm whether the dead pigs floating on Van Phong canal are related to the African swine fever epidemic occurring in the area or not.
The Department has taken samples of dead pigs for testing and determining the cause. At the same time, the authorities are recovering, disinfecting and destroying the pig carcasses thrown into the canal to limit pollution and the risk of disease spreading.
"African swine fever outbreaks in the area have been basically controlled and treated stably. After testing the dead pig samples, if an epidemic is detected, we will isolate and handle it completely, not allowing the epidemic to spread. This afternoon, I will continue to inspect and direct the handling of the above situation," he informed.
