Almost 500 tonnes of rubbish are scattered across the city of Ha Tinh. (Photo: Ba Hai)

As reported previously by DTiNews, a group of locals in Van Yen Ward, Ha Tinh City, blocked the road and prevented garbage trucks of the Urban Management Company from entering the city’s garbage dump. They were left with no choice but to cease collecting trash, forcing city dwellers to litter hundreds of tonnes of rubbish on the streets, which in turn caused major pollution and sanitary problems, outraging the public.

After talks between the city’s authorities and the people of Van Yen Ward, the locals finally agreed to let waste be brought into the dump on the condition that the treatment process for the garbage is carried out properly, which involves rubbish being first sprayed with chemicals, then covered by a 20 centimetre layer of dirt, and last levelled and pressed tightly by machinery.

Le Quang Duc, Director of Ha Tinh City’s Urban Management Company, said, “We will mobilise 100% of our employees and equipment to work 24 hours a day until our streets and roads are cleared of the trash.”

People living in Ha Tinh City can finally feel relieved, but only temporarily, as city authorities had promised the locals of Van Yen that they will use this garbage dump only until the first day of 2011.

For a long-term solution and to keep the promise with Van Yen, the People’s Committee of Ha Tinh is currently trying to find an area suitable to serve as a garbage dump and to construct a standard waste treatment facility.

Rubbish stacked in piles on a street a few days ago. (Photo: Ba Hai)