VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of households in Tan Yen District in Bac Giang province have protested against a plan to set up a waste treatment plant in the locality, though the plant would help ease environmental pollution and create local jobs.

A local man said that no one had known about the waste treatment plant project until March 2014, when locals saw many excavators and trucks in the Lang Cao hill area and they were told that the machines were brought there to serve the waste treatment plant project.

The man went on to say that locals fear the waste treatment plant will not help ease pollution, but may make it more serious.

The plant is expected to have the capacity of 150 tons of industrial waste and 30 tons of domestic waste a day. However, as the plant is located next to residential quarters, it could harm people’s health.

The plant is also located close to the Cau Dong canal, which is where  people  farm fish and shrimp. It is also the water supply source for thousands of hectares of rice fields.

The residents fear that once the waste treatment plant becomes operational, the waste water would go into the canal and also inundate houses, which would cause serious consequences.

“The area would turn into a dead land,” the man complained. “Thousands of households around the waste treatment plant would suffer."

He said locals have been trying to stop the construction of the plant and have  sent petitions to the local authorities. However, they have not received a reply, while the commune’s authorities said they need to follow the district authorities’ instruction.

Ministry, provincial authorities say one thing, district another

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment’s Decision No 2109 dated October 31, 2013 says the Bac Giang waste treatment plant would be located in Cao Xa Commune.

The Investment Certificate dated November 5, 2013 granted by the Bac Giang provincial authorities confirms that the plant will be located in an area of 37.5 hectares in Lang Cao hamlet of Cao Xa commune.

However, the Tan Yen district People’s Committee decided to allocate a large land area of Ngoc Ly commune as well to the investor to build the waste treatment plant.

The district  authorities have  “redrawn” the Cau Dong canal, which is the natural boundary between Ngoc Ly and Cao Xa communes, turning the land area which previously belonged to Ngoc Ly into the land belonging to Cao Xa.

Locals did not know about the “redrawing” made by the district  authorities.

Nguyen Van Manh, head of the Cau Dong 10 hamlet in Ngoc Ly commune, said that he was not informed about the waste treatment plant and the decision to set the plant on Cau Dong hamlet’s land.

Dai Doan Ket