Sanitation workers collect garbage along a street in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Xuân Tình

HCM CITY — HCM City’s sanitation sector will work day and night to ensure environmental hygiene and urban beauty during the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

The 2023 Lunar New Year falls on January 22. The Tết holiday will last seven days from January 20 to 26, the Government has announced.

To ensure people enjoy a happy Tết, the city’s sanitation workers will work day and night through the peak period from January 19 to 26.

Huỳnh Minh Nhựt, director of the HCM City Urban Environment Company Limited (CITENCO) in charge of waste collection and cleaning activities throughout the city, said the company will operate during the Tết holiday.

The company’s sanitation workers will carry out waste collection, transportation and treatment, and garbage collection on the Nhiêu Lộc-Thị Nghè and Tân Hóa-Lò Gốm canals.

The delivery of domestic solid waste at waste transfer stations and waste treatment sites will be ensured.

Since mid-January 2023, the amount of domestic waste is estimated to increase by about 30 per cent compared to normal days, according to CITENCO.

Therefore, the company’s sanitation workers will have to work from 4am instead of 5am daily as usual.

In particular, from January 19 and 20, (December 28 and 29 in accordance with the lunar Calendar ), the amount of domestic waste could double, so sanitation workers would also have to double the frequency of waste collection.

Nguyễn Trọng Minh, director of District 3’s Environmental Cooperative, said the cooperative has 150 members, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the district's waste collectors.

Many restaurants will still be open to sell during Tết so 50 per cent of the cooperative's workers will work as usual through the holiday.

In particular, the workers will work harder from early morning to 6pm on January 20, 2023 (lunar December 29) to ensure collection of all garbage.

The cooperative's waste collection will meet technical and environmental hygiene requirements that ensure collecting all solid wastes contained in trash bins at public places, and prevent leakage of wastewater during the collection process.

A representative of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said the department will coordinate with relevant departments and agencies, and people's committees of Thủ Đức City and districts to conduct inspections and strictly handle administrative violations of environmental protection.

The city's departments of Transport, and Construction will support the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in inspecting and requesting that works under construction in the city clean up and set up barrier walls around their construction sites before January 14 (lunar December 23).

The municipal People's Committee allows waste collection vehicles to move during peak times from January 19 to 26, especially at Nguyễn Huệ Flower Street and locations where fireworks are organised.

Thủ Đức City and districts will work with relevant agencies to carry out waste collection and transportation in the main streets in the city, ensuring environmental hygiene and urban beauty on the first days of the 2023 Tết. — VNS