VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi’s new garbage collection and treatment model has failed as the work is being done with money from district budgets.
Earlier this year, Thuong Tin district authorities and the Toan Cau Environment Company kicked off a pilot program on privatising garbage collection and treatment in rural areas. The plan was to later apply the model on a large scale in other districts of the city.
Under current regulations, garbage in HCM City is collected and treated in two steps. At first, privately-run enterprises collect garbage at fixed places in every hamlet and commune and then carry the garbage with light trucks to certain dumping grounds.
After that, the garbage is carried away from the dumping grounds with heavy trucks to major landfills in Hanoi for treatment.
Under the pilot program, garbage is collected by Toan Cau instead of hamlets’ cleaners, from every household.
Previously, the garbage collection was done twice a week, but now, garbage is taken away daily. The environment has improved considerably.
However, the new garbage collection model has proved to be too costly.
According to Mai Thi Thu Ha, deputy director of Toan Cau, the state budget has to pay approximately VND12 billion in 2014 for garbage collection in 16 communes and towns of Thuong Tin District.
In the future, if the model is applied in all 29 communes of Thuong Tin District, the total sum of money the state budget has to pay may reach VND20 billion a year.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring districts which have the same numbers of communes and population like Phu Xuyen, Thanh Oai, Quoc Oai and Thach That, the cost is just equal to one-third of Thuong Tin’s, or VND6-7 billion.
As such, the new garbage collection model increased budget expenditures by VND13 billion.
Thuong Tin district’s authorities have to pay VND39,000 to Toan Cau for every kilometer its staff travels to collect garbage.
In other localities, the sums of money the local authorities have to pay are calculated based on the amount of garbage collected and carried away.
According to Le Thanh Son, deputy chair of Thuong Tin district People’s Committee, 120 tons of domestic garbage needs to be collected every day in the district.
Of this, 50 tons is carried away for treatment under the city’s support, while the remaining is treated locally in Thuong Tin district.
Son said the pilot program implemented by Toan Cau has been useful as it has helped to partially settle the problem.
However, Son admitted that the program is a burden on the state budget.
Meanwhile, city authorities want to privatise the waste collection and treatment.
Ha of Toan Cau Company said that the model being followed by Toan Cau can only be implemented with money from the state budget.
Under the current regulations, every individual has to pay VND3,000 a month in garbage collection fees, while the total collected fees are too low to cover expenses for garbage collection and treatment.
Nong Nghiep