Councillor Vo Van Tan, who raised the issue at a meeting of the city's People's Council on Thursday, said the pollution from the plant in Phuoc Hiep Commune had caused a bad odour that had even reached the Cu Chi District's People's Committee's office four to five kilometres away.

Dao Anh Kiet, director of HCM City's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the Phuoc Hiep waste-treatment plant would be closed by the end of the year, and all of the solid waste would be moved to the Da Phuoc waste-treatment plant in the city's Binh Chanh District.

Kiet said the waste-treatment plant had caused land depression and pollution, mostly due to poor investment and management.

"The city's People's Committee has been dealing with this issue and we are proceeding with the plan," Kiet told the council.

Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of HCM City's People's Committee, said that by 2020 all of the waste would be moved to a 2,000-ha waste-treatment plant built in Long An's Thu Thua District.

In related development, leaders of Long An Province urged the Viet Nam Waste Solutions Inc. (VWS) to speed up construction of a green waste-treatment plant in the province's Thu Thua District's Tan Lap Commune.

The waste-treatment complex will be located on 1,760 hectares and will handle 40,000 tonnes of waste per day, using advanced technology.

The project, which will have an environmental training centre nearby, includes standard landfills, a hi-tech sewage treatment facility, a compost fertiliser factory, and a garbage-to-power plant with a closed system.