QUẢNG NAM —  Solid waste produced by the central province of Quảng Nam has risen in recent years but the province lacks high capacity waste treatment systems, according to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE).

Lê Thị Tuyết Hạnh, deputy director of the provincial DoNRE, said that most waste in the province was buried.

The province has 20 rubbish dumps, but only six, in Núi Thành, Đại Lộc, Đông Giang, Quế Sơn and Bắc Trà My districts, were up to hygiene standards.

The province has only one waste treatment plant in Hội An City with a capacity of 55 tonnes per day.

The biggest problem in the province was that rubbish was not classified at its source properly, creating big obstacles for treating it afterwards, said Hạnh.

In past years, solid waste discharged from industrial zones, enterprises and trade villages was collected and treated with daily waste.

Recently, different big dumps including the Tam Xuân No 2, Đại Hiệp and Cẩm Hà have become overloaded, while waste transport is unhygienic and foul-smelling, causing pollution.

Earlier, to treat the rubbish, temporary waste treatment systems were set up, allowing water from waste to sink into the ground and affect the surrounding area. These systems had deteriorated as time went by, said Hạnh.

A spokesman from the Núi Thành District People’s Committee said that Tam Hải sea had been seriously polluted due to increasing waste, and a pollution treatment system was needed.

However, local residents opposed the construction of an incinerator as they were afraid that rubbish from other places would be brought to the district if a large waste treatment system was set up.

Deputy Director Hạnh said that finding a place to build a waste treatment plant far enough from residential quarters was difficult.

Earlier, the Quảng Nam People’s Committee agreed for the Construction, Technology and Development Joint-stock Company to build a waste treatment plant. The company proposed building the plant in the Tam Xuân No 2 waste treatment zone in Núi Thành District.

But the provincial DoNRE rejected the proposal as the area had been promised to the Urban Environment Joint-stock Company. Moreover, the area is only 28m from the Phú Ninh Clean Water Plant, an unsafe distance.

In a conference recently, permanent vice chairman of the provincial people’s committee Huỳnh Khánh Toàn asked localities to work with the provincial DoNRE to adjust management of solid waste in the province. — VNS