Garbage pile outside an alley

Nguyen Thi Liem, a local said, "Normally we would just put the trash outside of the alley but no one has come to collect it for the past week. The smell is overwhelming to everyone."

Some people have even resorted to throwing their trash in front of the local authorities' headquarters in protest. Garbage can now be seen everywhere, from the narrow alleys to school gates.

 Streets filled with trash

Trash thrown near a school

Some households and local authorities have sent people to guard their doors, preventing others from throwing out their rubbish nearby.

The Haiphong Urban Environment Company had to collect some of the trash recently, but the root cause remains unsolved.

 Authorities put up "no dumping" signs

"No dumping" sign in front of An Duong District People's Procuracy

Deputy head of An Duong District People's Committee, Hoang Viet Thao, admitted that they were unable to pay the service in the time stipulated by contract. Each garbage truck costs the town VND3.2 million (USD153) and the fees of from 20,000 households does not cover this amount.

In addition, landfill of the Haiphong Urban Environment Company has reached capacity. District authorities asked the company to extend the deadline for payment in order to prevent pollution.

Pham Thi Thu An, Vice Director of Haiphong Urban Environment Company, confirmed that An Duong District authorities owe them a huge sum of money and decided to stop providing trash collection services. An went on to say that they will abandon An Duong District if the debts are not paid.

(dtinews.vn)