Many people voiced their opinions enforcing strict litter laws will encourage people not to litter in private and public places like other countries such as Singapore, and South Korea.
It is visible that below the signs prohibiting trash dumping are piles of trash on many roads, under bridges, and vacant lots. Even in the newly-built Ring Road in the West of Thu Duc City, heaps of garbage are easily seen.
Furthermore, Pham Van Ngon Street is full of waste surreptitiously thrown away by people with a lack of awareness. Every day, garbage collectors clean up the street but the street is unhygienic with waste in the next morning. This situation is also happening at the foot of the Saigon Bridge, the border area between Binh Thanh District and Thu Duc City and many other areas.
The lack of awareness/concern and lack of sense of responsibility at individual level often causes people to litter. An environmental sanitation worker who is an employee of the Public Service Company in District 1 was upset because many days she was sweeping trash on Han Thuyen Street, 30-4 Park when suddenly she was hit by water bottles thrown by drivers who parked nearby.
Public peeing and littering have been commonplace in many areas. Drainage and underground drainage canals continue to be clogged and environmental pollution due to the indiscriminate dumping of garbage.
A reporter of SGGP Newspaper filmed passersby on Hoang Sa Street in District 1 in three hours. During that time, six people were recorded to wild pee, one person was caught littering, and 1 person caught fish in the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal. According to statistics from Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Company Limited, every day sanitation workers have to pick up 9-10 tons of waste from the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal.
According to shares of functional units in some districts, handling violations in the field of environment in the locality still faces certain difficulties. For instance, a representative of Binh Chanh District People's Committee informed that by implementing the campaign ‘People in Ho Chi Minh City do not litter the streets and canals to reduce flooding’, the district has strengthened many solutions to deter people from littering and peeing in public places including installation of 514 security cameras.
In 2023, there were 93 violators; some 49 of them received warnings and 44 got administrative sanctions with a total amount of VND96.5 million. During the implementation of the campaign, the district still faces difficulties including the lack of personnel in law enforcement forces. Moreover, not all dwellers have access to information on the environment.
Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Thanh My of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, acknowledged that indiscriminate littering into the environment still exists, partly due to a lack of awareness among many people and partly a shortage of personnel in environment enforcement forces. The government, unions, local officials, residents in the residential blocks and local police necessarily join hands to eliminate indiscriminate littering.
