ĐÀ LẠT – The Cam Ly garbage dump in Lâm Đồng Province has been reopened after more than a year, to reduce the load on a waste treatment plant in Đà Lạt City.

The amount of garbage currently accumulating in the Solid Waste Treatment Plant, the only one of its kind in Đà Lạt City in the Central Highlands province, is more than 20,000 tonnes.

“Garbage overflows onto the hill sides at the waste collection site in the plant and pollutes the water. The neighbourhood faces a great risk of environment pollution,” Lương Văn Ngự, deputy director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said.

To resolve the problem, Lâm Đồng People’s Committee has decided to reopen the Cam Ly garbage dump, which was closed more than a year ago for not meeting environment standards. Till September 30, 80 out of 180 tonnes of garbage collected daily from Đà Lạt City and Lạc Dương District will be transported to Cam Ly garbage dump for treatment, while the rest will go to the Solid Waste Treatment Plant, according to the order of the People’s Committee.

The plant, built at a cost of VNĐ400 billion (US$ 17.9 million) by Đà Lạt-based Green Energy Environment Company, became operational in July 2015 to replace the Cam Ly garbage dump. It is designed to handle 200 tonnes of garbage per day. But it soon showed many shortcomings as some facilities were yet to be built, causing chronic overloading, and forcing local people to repeatedly complain about the pollution the plant caused in their living environment. – VNS