The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday approved a financial aid package to provide over VND18 billion (US$857,000) to close down manual brick kilns in District 9, which are causing serious environmental pollution.
The financial assistance would not only be used to close down the brick kilns but also help workers at the kilns.
Workers will be required to present documents to local authorities confirming the period they worked in the brick kilns.
If the workers are local residents, they will receive assistance in training courses at the District 9 Vocational Training Centre, so that they can stabilise their lives and fend for themselves.
District 9 has many manual brick kilns in Long Binh, Long Thanh My and Tan Phu Wards, which are causing environmental pollution, as they mainly use wood, oil sludge, fabric scraps and cashew nut kernel to fire bricks.
Since 2004, the city has gradually stopped operations of these units and has also planned a 20 hectare area in Long Binh Ward to produce building materials.
Manual brick kilns are being encouraged to apply new technology which is more environmental friendly and less cumbersome.
