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Waste pickup in Tan Phu District of Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal |
A visit to Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal passing District 6 and District 11 at the beginning of this June reveals a large amount of untreated sewage and household solid waste (plastic bags, dead animals, used plastic bottles, foam boxes) from smaller canals in residential areas. The water has turned dark and become too stinky.
Le Thi Tam, a local resident in Ward 11 of District 6 living beside the canal, shared that the sanitation project launched not a long time ago was expected to give Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal a new greener appearance and improve the living standards of dwellers alongside. Sadly, only a short time later, the canal might become polluted again. On hot days, the smell is nearly unbearable.
Agreeing with that, Nguyen Tuan Ky, a resident on Tan Hoa Street of Tan Thoi Hoa Ward in Tan Phu District, said that thanks to the sanitation project to revive Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal, slums were replaced with better accommodation. In the afternoon, local people could enjoy the fresh air or do exercise in public parks along the canal. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the Canal has shown signs of re-pollution owing to a large volume of solid waste and sewage from residential areas.
Although functional agencies and the local authorities have posted warnings and notices against illegal waste disposal into the canal, certain people with low awareness still carry out the act purposedly. Residents living along the canal are concerned that this pollution may bring about diseases and worsen the pollution status.
Employees of Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Co. Ltd. have worked so hard to remove about 3 tonnes of waste each day regardless of weather. They complained that it is impossible for one person to pick up garbage dumped by hundreds of low-awareness people.
Mr. Huynh Minh Son, Head of Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal Waste Pickup Station said that a huge amount of garbage from the upstream flows into the canal after rain. His employees can never finish their task even though they have stuck to schedule and even worked overtime. Various campaigns and measures of HCMC to encourage people not to dispose waste carelessly into canals for a greener environment will become meaningless as long as the awareness of the public to protect their environment is not improved.
Local authorities of areas where the canal passes (District 6 and District 11) informed that they frequently launch sanitation campaigns to clean the canal, to raise the awareness of local residents, and to tighten monitoring over the canal in order to fine law violations.
However, certain people still take advantage of insufficient patrolling staff and surreptitiously try to dump waste into the canal.
Therefore, Head Huynh Minh Son proposed that HCMC should launch more activities to increase the awareness of the community against illegal waste disposal and to apply stricter sanctions against indiscriminate littering.
Deputy Director of HCMC Construction Department Dang Phu Thanh suggested more supervision on sewage treatment of factories. Household sewage is now being collected via a drainage system alongside Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal; however, due to limited budget, the city cannot invest in a sewage treatment plant here.
To better control the water quality in this canal, HCMC Construction Department proposes that District 6 tighten its monitoring over sewage treatment tasks of factories sited in the district.
In addition, to address the drainage problem as well as improving the urban appearance in District 6 and Tan Phu District, HCMC has prepared a plan to renovate Bau Trau Canal running from Tan Phu District to District 6. The two Departments of Construction and Planning & Investment are working to complete this plan.
Regarding illegal waste disposal issues in Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal and in the city’s drainage system in general, HCMC Party’s Committee has released Directive No.19 in 2018 on the campaign ‘HCMC Dwellers Stop Littering on Streets and Canals for a Cleaner City and Urban Flooding Reduction’. It is expected that the collaboration of the whole political system and socio-political organizations can help attract the public to join in the campaign effectively.
