VietNamNet Bridge – Dozens of tons of waste from cesspools in residential quarters are dumped into the environment every day in Dong Nai, but local authorities say they have received no reports about the problem.

Dozens of companies and individuals provide a tank truck service of vacuuming cesspool waste in Dong Nai province. The service providers even accept orders to treat hazardous waste from hospitals and industrial zones.

Under current regulations, this kind of waste must be carried to certain places for treatment.

However, in order to cut expenses, some companies and individuals secretly dump the waste in the environment, causing serious pollution.

At 8 am on September 5, reporters saw a tank truck bearing the number plate 60C-132.64 on Dong Khoi street, going to Amata Industrial Zone and then travelling on the red-dirt roads to a melaleuca forest in Long Binh Ward in Bien Hoa City.

As soon as the tank truck stopped, two men got out of the truck and opened the valve to discharge the waste from the tank into the forest.

“The forest has become place for tank trucks to dump waste, because there are numerous trees and few residents,” a local man said.

At 10 am on the same day, the reporters discovered another tank truck, which was carrying waste from Long Binh District in Bien Hoa City to a rubber-growing area in An Phuoc Commune of Long Thanh District.

Within 30 minutes, the reporters saw five tank trucks in the same area.

The driver of a truck said he works for a company which serves dozens of customers in Bien Hoa City every day. He said he earns VND700,000-800,000 for every trip.

The people living near a rubber forest in An Phuoc Commune of Long Thanh District said up to 100 tank trucks come to the area every day. They had “heard” that the waste dumping is allowed by the owners of the rubber-growing land areas if the service providers pay fees to the owners.

However, the local authorities said they do not know anything about any illegal activities.

Phan Van Canh, deputy chair of An Phuoc Commune, said the commune people’s committee had not been informed about this.

“We will send inspectors to the rubber forest to learn about the case and we will punish anyone who commits illegal activities,” he said.

Bui Duc Nam, chair of Long Binh Ward’s People’s Committee, said that he had not received any reports about this.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuong, deputy director of the Dong Nai provincial Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, while affirming that dumping waste in the rubber forest is illegal, also said the department had not discovered any case so far.

Cao Trong Nguong, director of the provincial Preventive Healthcare Center, said he was worried about the dumping, warning that spreading of germs could cause infectious diseases in the community.

PL TPHCM