In recent days, employees from the Da Nang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company have collected and destroyed three pathogen putrescent pigs drifting from the upstream into a section of the eastern bank of the Han River, near the city’s Rong (Dragon) Bridge.

Employees from the Da Nang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company collecting domestic waste and water hyacinth floating on the Han River

Besides, many plastic bags of domestic waste mixed in water hyacinth floating on the river have been already collected by the company’s employees.

It is known that Quang Nam Province is now facing a waste crisis as residents living near the Tam Xuan 2 Waste Dump in Tam Nghia Commune in the province’s Nui Thanh District have been blocking garbage trucks from going to the waste dump. Their move has expressed their annoyance about the serious environment pollution problem in the area.

The Tam Xuan 2 Waste Dump is the largest of its kind in the province, so almost all the waste collected across the province is taken to this dump for treating, except for Dai Loc District.

As a result, local citizens have put domestic waste at the Cam Ly Bridge in the province’s Dien Ban Town, or thrown the garbage directly into the Yen River.

Meanwhile, African swine fever (ASF) has continued to spread into Quang Nam Province, so local functional bodies are facing many difficulties in destroying ASF-infected pigs.

Mr Nguyen Xuan Ha, Vice Chairman of the Dien Ban Town People's Committee, said that rubbish backlog is a major problem in residential areas in his town, and in Quang Nam Province as a whole.

The Dien Ban Town government has urged ward and commune-level authorities to clear the backlog of waste and set up temporary garbage collection areas which are far from residential areas to gather domestic solid waste.

The town’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment has reminded localities to collect garbage, and encouraged residents not to throw rubbish indiscriminately into rivers and lakes, in order to ensure environmental sanitation.

A ‘No Dumping Trash’ sign is placed at the Cam Ly Bridge in Quang Nam province’s Dien Ban Town in order to prevent local residents to thrown rubbish there

Meanwhile, some relevant agencies in Da Nang will work with the Quang Nam Province authorities to ask local residents not to throw domestic waste and putrescent pigs into the Yen and Vu Gia rivers.

Mr Ho Huong, General Director of the Da Nang Water Supply Company (DAWACO), said garbage prevention tools have been placed in front of raw water intake gates at the Cau Do water plant and the An Trach Pumping Station in order to prevent domestic waste and dead pigs from drifting near the raw water intake gates.

In addition, the monitoring of water quality has been implemented in a stricter manner during the water collection and production process.

“We pledge to supply safe water meeting the criteria set by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to our customers”, Director Huong affirmed.