Ten years ago, the production workshops were told to relocate to other places, but theywere not informed of where they could go, they said.

On May 4, about 20 local residents visited the Dong Hung Thuan Ward’s authorities to protest the existence of production workshops in residential quarters. They demanded that these workshops be removed.

An official of the local authority said the complaints were nothing new.

“We know people are angry. We promised to try our best to settle the problem. But what they need are not promises, but fresh air to breathe,” he said.

Le Thi So, an elderly woman, pointing to the thick smoke arising from a place just hundreds of meters from her house, said the smoke and the burning smell originated at dyeing, weaving, food processing, washing and paper recycling workshops.

“All the elderly people and children here suffer from respiratory diseases,” So said.

“You may see that a lot of houses here have been closed for many days. They have left to escape the pollution,” she added.

According to the District 12 People’s Committee, the production workshops received a notice in 2004 from city authorities that they must relocate out of residential quarters.

The city’s authorities also said they would impose heavy fines on the workshops.

However, the chair of District 12, Nguyen Toan Thang, said that the residents did not see these fines as a hindrance.

“It would be very costly for the workshops, mostly small and medium ones, to relocate to new places. Therefore, they would rather stay here and pay the fine,” he said.

Meanwhile, the owners of the workshops deny that they don’t want to move to other places, saying that they just don’t know where to go.

Thang, at a working session with the HCM City’s People’s Council several days ago, also said that industrial zones had not agreed to allow the production workshops to locate there.

Meanwhile, it is still unclear what financial support the workshops would receive when they relocate.

“Tan Phu Trung and Hoa Phu Industrial Zones in Cu Chi District have said they still cannot receive the workshops, saying that the infrastructure in the industrial zones does not suit these production fields, or the waste water treatment systems have become overloaded,” Thang said.