The island of Tam Hai, off the coast of Quang Nam, has been struggling against a flood of household garbage treatment after the failure of a rubbish-fired furnace.

A corner of Tam Hai Island in Quang Nam Province. 

Vice chairman of the island commune’s People’s Committee, Nguyen Tan Hung, said the project, which had received a funding of VNĐ10 billion (US$442,000), could not find a suitable location.

Hùng said the furnace, which was planned for an area 300m away from the residential area, was condemned by islanders due to possible air and underground pollution.

He added residents were also worried that fumes from the furnace would damage aquaculture farms.

“We plan to build a furnace to burn six tonnes of household garbage each day, but local residents did not agree location of the furnace as it is too close to residential areas,” Hùng said.

“The province has revoked the project due to delays, and we have been seeking more friendly measures of treating garbage on the island,” he said.

He said transporting garbage in special trucks each day would be a possible solution, while bio-treatment and environment-friendly measures could be adopted.

Despite regular beach cleaning programmes, residents still dump rubbish on pristine beaches.

In the past, daily rubbish was buried or released to the environment, or dumped at neighbouring Tam Quang Commune.

Rubbish is dumped in the river or on pristine sand. 

However, only small garbage trucks can approach the ferry, so removing eight tonnes of rubbish a day is not possible.

The island of 8,000 people is surrounded by the Truong Giang River and Lở Estuary, lagoon, beach and mountains. Ferries stop operation on stormy or rainy days.

Tam Hai Island, just five minutes on boat from Nui Thanh Town, hopes to develop as an ecological buffer zone and global geo-park site with well-protected coral reefs and a primary mangrove forest. Almost 80 per cent of population earn their living by fishing and aquaculture farming.

The island hosts 700 visitors each weekend. 

VNS