The Đa Phước Waste Treatment Complex causes the foul odour that plagues some southern districts of HCM City, head of the office of HCM City People’s Committee, Võ Văn Hoan, said yesterday. — Photo zing.vn

HCM CITY — The Đa Phước Waste Treatment Complex causes the foul odour that plagues some southern districts of HCM City, head of the office of HCM City People’s Committee, Võ Văn Hoan, said yesterday.

Hoan said at press conference that the smells come from the complex’s landfill and the lake treating water leaking from dumped waste.

The committee asked Việt Nam Waste Solution - the investor – to grow trees on an area of 46ha in the complex to isolate the landfill from outside, he said.

The city would also speed up land clearance on an area of 100ha to develop a green belt, he added. 

The investor was also asked to cover the liquid waste area, treat smells and complete work required by the environmental impact assessment, he said.

“Waste heaps at Đa Phước landfill are up to 25m high and the landfill will be full in the next five or seven years. The city will call on relevant agencies to speed up development of the Tân Thành Waste Treatment Area in southern Long An Province to reduce the burden for the Đa Phước landfill,” Hoan said.

The construction of  Đa Phước Waste Treatment Complex - known as the Đa Phước landfill - was started in mid-2005 with an investment of US$100 million on an area of 138ha in the city’s Bình Chánh District.

Between 2007, when it opened, and 2014, the complex buried 3,000 tonnes of waste from HCM City and 20 tonnes of waste from southern Long An Province every day.

The volume increased to 5,000 tonnes a day after the city closed the Phước Hiệp Waste Complex in Củ Chi District at the end of 2014.

According to reports from authorities in Bình Chánh, Nhà Bè and seven other city districts, the odour worsens during the rainy season.

This year the smells were particularly bad, they added.

Many local residents have complained to the city’s environment department about the stink in Hưng Long and Đa Phước communes in Bình Chánh District, Phú Mỹ Hưng City Centre in District 7, and Phước Long and Phước Kiểng communes in Nhà Bè District.

Although the city has paid more for waste treatment at the Đa Phước landfill, improper waste treatment technology is blamed for spreading the stench.

The city paid $16.4 for treating a tonne of waste there in 2007, $19 in 2013, $20.16 in late 2014 and $21.1 in 2016

Early this month, Prime Minsiter Nguyễn Xuân Phúc ordered the city’s authorities to locate the source of the air pollution and implement solutions. — VNS