Nguyen Kim Hoang, deputy head of the department's Technical Infrastructure Unit, said 63 per cent of the 650 tonnes of solid waste produced by the city's industrial parks was discharged into Can Tho's waterways.

Picture: Pham Manh/VFEJ

She said much of the toxic industrial waste produced by the city's 2,162ha of industrial parks had yet to be collected and treated according to the law.

The environment was being seriously polluted by domestic and industrial waste, she said.

The city's Department of Environment and Natural Resources found that chemical oxygen demand – the amount of water-dissolved oxygen consumed by contaminants – and biological oxygen demand – the amount of oxygen consumed by microbial oxidation – exceeded acceptable levels by 3-5 times.

This pollution had resulted from a lack of human resources and equipment for collection and treatment of waste.

The department further said that solid waste in districts such as Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang and O Mon had to be transported to Hau Giang Province's Tan Long District, 30km from the centre of the city. It also said that some of the city's dumps, such as those in Vinh Thanh, Co Do and Thoi Lai, did not meet sanitation standards.

Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee, said collection, transport and treatment of at least 700-1,000 tonnes of solid waste needed investment from the private sector.

The department estimated VND1.1 trillion (US$60 million) need to be invested in treating waste up to 2020.

The city plans to set aside areas for dumps and treatment facilities, including 200-ha in Thoi Lai District, a 20-ha in Thot Not District and a 47-ha site in O Mon District.