Overloaded rubbish carts are seen along the streets in Nam Tu Liem District in Hanoi. — Photo baodansinh.vn

Chairman of the committee Chu Ngoc Anh has asked the inspectors to clarify the operation of the company over uncollected rubbish in the past week.

As of December 28, rubbish had been piled up on many streets in Nam Tu Liem and My Duc districts in Hanoi. Dozens of trash-filled carts were overloaded with rubbish nearly two-metres high along Ham Nghi, Nguyen Hoang, and Me Tri streets.

In My Duc District alone, about 10,000 tonnes of rubbish had been left to stack up.

The reason was that environmental workers from Minh Quan High Technology Development and Investment JSC – the company in charge of collecting rubbish in Nam Tu Liem District in 2017-2020 – went on strike after the company failed to win a new contract and failed to pay them on time.

A representative of the company said the firm had finished the contract and retained the workers’ salaries to ensure they completed their work by the end of December.

The garbage has since been collected by the Urenco Cau Dien Branch under Hanoi Urban Environment Company (Urenco 7).

Minh Quan High Technology Development and Investment JSC is located in Ha Dong District’s Van Quan Ward. The company’s registered charter capital is VND59 billion ($2.5 million).

In March 2017, this company won six bidding packages worth more than VND1.15 trillion ($49.8 million) collecting rubbish in nine districts, including Ha Dong, Nam Tu Liem, Bac Tu Liem, Tay Ho, Thanh Tri, Ba Vi, Thach That, Phuc Tho and My Duc.

However, the company has repeatedly caused problems such as a shortage of carts and equipment to collect and transport waste or untrained workers.

In mid-November, rubbish had reportedly piled up along Yen Phu Street in Tay Ho District because the environmental company failed to pay wages.

Hanoi currently produces about 6,500 tonnes of trash each day, 89 per cent of which is buried while the rest is burned.  VNS

Waste remains a problem in Hanoi

Rubbish has been piled up on many streets in Hanoi, causing serious pollution as environmental workers haven't been paid wages.

Illegal dumping remains rampant in Hanoi

It is quite common to see rubbish dumping on many streets in Hanoi, which has become a thorny issue in the city for many years.