The authorities in HCM City have suggested buying rubbish from local people to encourage rubbish sorting.
On November 2, the local authorities and HCM City Television co-operated on a TV show to promote greater awareness about the city’s environment.
Vuong Quy Lam, deputy head of District 8 Public Services Company, said 70 employees collected 30 tonnes of rubbish from the canals every day and up to 70 tonnes when Tet Holiday was near. Chairman of Ward 16 Le Minh Tan said littering into canals was still very common even though they had tried to raise public awareness and got local people to sign a non-littering commitment.
Former Chairman of HCM City People’s Council Pham Chanh Truc said the collecting and organising rubbish was not effective because they didn’t have waste treatment company that can recycle the rubbish. “What’s the point if all rubbish will be buried anyway?” he said. “HCM City doesn’t lack funds and could call for investment from the private sector so we definitely have to do this right.”
He went on to say that the authorities have to encourage rubbish sorting by giving awards to model citizens and buy the rubbish.
Phan Van Keo, a farmer in Hoc Mon District, suggested investing in more modern rubbish trucks and starting cleaning movements.
In 2016, a government resolution about administrative fines in the field of environment protection was issued, however, due to the size of the city and its population, the resolution will only go into effect in HCM City in late 2018. Tran Vinh Tuyen, vice chairman of HCM City, vowed to strictly punish anyone who littered the city and persuade locals to categorise rubbish. They will also help sanitary companies with more equipment.
Le Huy Ba, a lecturer at the Department of Environment, Resources and Climate Change at HCM City University of Food Industry said in order to make rubbish sorting work, HCM City authorities have to invest in the whole system from collecting, transporting and processing. They should instruct the locals on how to sort the rubbish, tighten control over rubbish collecting process before applying fines on anyone.
According to Ba, many problems will arise if the authorities buy rubbish from the locals. He suggested exempting rubbish collecting fees if the households sort their rubbish well instead.
Source: Dtinews
