The cause of the foul odour plaguing some of the southern districts in HCM City will be made public before next Tuesday, the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment has promised.— Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — The cause of the foul odour plaguing some of the southern districts in HCM City will be made public before next Tuesday, the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment has promised.

Its director, Nguyễn Toàn Thắng, told a press conference on Wednesday that the department is working closely with local authorities and other relevant agencies to quickly investigate the problem and find solutions.

Many local residents had written to the department to complain 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.

“For more than a week, our 16 workers have been on duty 24 hours a day,” Thắng said.

“Initially, we found that the bad smell does not occur the entire day. We have identified areas that are possibly the source of the smell.”

He said the Đa Phước Waste Treatment Complex is a possible source.

The complex performs three main tasks: mud recycling, cesspool sludge treatment and household waste treatment.

Household waste treatment is the likely culprit, Thắng said.

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

The volume has 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.

Now all its activities - receiving waste, treating it and burying it - are being investigated to isolate the source of the stink.

The department has instructed Đa Phước and other waster treatment plants to use more deodorant and reduce their operation time.

It has set up hotlines at 08.38.293.653 and 0909.022.688 for the public to complain about the stink.

Problems found: Ministry

At a Government press conference on Wednesday, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà said the foul smell is indeed emanating from the Đa Phước Waste Treatment Complex.

The Sài Gòn Xanh Biology Technology Company Ltd and Hoà Bình Urban Company Ltd have caused air pollution, he said further.

Đa Phước buries its waste using US technologies and standards, but some of its facilities are not complete, he said.

While landfills are used in many countries to dispose of waste, Đa Phước does not do it efficiently enough and so is not resolving environmental problems, he said.

Whether Đa Phước uses appropriate technologies and correctly is what need to be verified, he said.

A rapidly developing city like HCM City needs a long-term plan to treat waste, especially solid waste, he added. — VNS