HÀ NỘI — Rubbish piled up on the streets and near apartment buildings in Hà Nội’s inner districts over the weekend.

Residents living around the Nam Sơn Waste Treatment Complex or Nam Sơn dumping ground, the largest dump of the city, have blocked the garbage trucks entering the dump since last Friday.

This is because of sluggish process of land clearance and compensation for a relocation project.

In 2017, due to pollution caused by the Nam Sơn dump, local authorities approved a project to relocate three seriously affected communes - Bắc Sơn, Hồng Kỳ and Nam Sơn.

Residents wanted the city’s authorities to address pollution and pay compensation for the affected households before they move out.

The authorities of Sóc Sơn District and the municipal People’s Committee held three meetings and talks with residents since the protest broke out last week.

According to deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Nguyễn Thế Hùng, after discussions with residents, the People’s Committee ordered the Sóc Sơn District’s authorities to pay compensation for those affected living within 500m from the site.

The Sóc Sơn District’s authorities were requested to survey the pollution-affected area and report to the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment before January 15.

The city People’s Committee asked the authorities to approve compensation plans before March 30 and start to allocate the payments from the second quarter of this year.

The money will come from the city’s development and investment fund.

Vietnamplus.vn reported that after the dialogues, protesters agreed to dismantle tents and clear the way leading to the dump. However, it was reported yesterday afternoon around 40 people representing affected households still gathered at a crossroads connecting Hạ Lộc and Liên Xuân villages of Nam Sơn Commune and continued to block the garbage trucks.

The residents said they agreed with the meetings’ results but wanted answers to other problems.

According to the villagers, they expected solutions and commitments from local authorities.

March 15 was set as a deadline for finishing compensation plans while the money will be allocated within second quarter. However, residents wanted to know when the work would be completed and when they would receive all the compensation, they said.

They also asked local authorities for the rate and for a meeting with the Secretary of the city’s Party Committee.

A lot of garbage trucks are still waiting between two and three km from the dump.

Workers of the Hà Nội Urban Environment Company have transported garbage to Cầu Diễn dumping grounds in Nam Từ Liêm District for collection.

Set up in 1999, the Nam Sơn garbage dump, covering an area of 83ha, receives more than 4,000 tonnes of waste per day from four Hà Nội inner districts.

In 2017, the first industrial waste-to-energy facility with the capacity of treating 75 tonnes of toxic and industrial waste per day in Nam Sơn Waste Treatment Complex was inaugurated with help from Japan.

The generated power is used for the factory’s own production activities and for national power grid’s electricity supply. — VNS