VietNamNet Bridge – Taiwanese-invested Viet Phuoc Agricultural Produce Co., Ltd. in Binh Phuoc province has been detected to throw hundreds of rotten pigs in the area adjacent to upper Saigon River.

Dead pigs discharged by Viet Phuoc Company.

According to the Environment Police Department of Binh Phuoc Province, Viet Phuoc Company, based in Minh Tam Commune, Hon Quan District, with Mr. Li Kuo Hui, a Taiwanese as the legal representative, admitted to throwing hundreds of dead pigs into the environment, adjacent to the upstream Saigon River.

According to Viet Phuoc’s declaration, this firm owns a farm with 27,000 pigs, which is located adjacent to the upstream Saigon River.

Every day, over 10 pigs died of trampling. Recently, the company's incinerator was broken so the farm threw dead pigs to the environment, near the upstream of the Saigon River.

The authorities have collected samples of wastewater of Vinh Phuoc and water from the surface of the Saigon River for testing to define the impact of this firm’s wastewater discharge and determine the cause of fish deaths on the river on July 6.

Following the incident, there have been concerns over other livestock farms along the river.

Saigon Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco) earlier this year reported that climate change left an impact on the city’s water resources as severe saltwater intrusion threatened supplies of crude water and the operation of water plants.

Dong Nai and Saigon rivers are the main sources of water for HCMC. However, data collected in recent years has shown that crude water taken from the rivers no longer meets quality standards. Salinity sometimes exceeds 25 milligrams per liter while levels of organic and microbial pollutants such as E.Coli and Coliform have increased.

Minh Nguyet