Kien Giang (VNS/VNA) - Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang – among the mostpopular tourist destinations in Vietnam – is being threatened by environmentalpollution caused by rubbish dumps, Lao dong (Labour) newspaperreported.

Tourism services, fishingboats and fish breeding farms are discharging some 300 tonnes of waste per day,though only half is being properly collected, causing serious contamination tothe environment, according to the Kien Giang Environmental Protection Office.

In fact, the figure israpidly increasing. In the first nine months of the year, the island collectedover 99,800 cu.m of rubbish, nearly 17,000 cu.m over the same period last year.

The waste dumping stationsin Cua Can commune are now overloaded. Rubbish is piled up like a mountain,giving off a stench. A 5ha dumping station in An Thoi town suffers the sameproblem.

Deputy Director of theprovincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Doan Huu Thang,said the two waste dumping stations are causing serious pollution.

More than 100,000 residentslive on the island, along with over 1,600 companies and businesses,predominantly hotels, resorts, services and food processing workshops. Many ofthem lack standard garbage and waste water treatment systems.

Waste water is collected insedimentation tanks and then discharged directly into the municipal waste watersystem. Businesses with access to a wide land area allow waste water to beabsorbed directly into the environment.

A waste treatment plantwith a capacity of 200 tonnes per day will be put into operation in Ham NinhCommune at the end of this year, according to Thang. Another plant isscheduled to be built in An Thoi town, which is expected to help the islanddeal with the rubbish overload.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhantold Lao dong newspaper that rubbish was a hot issue, not onlyin big urban areas but also in rural ones.

Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation place heavy pressure ontreatment of household solid waste, particularly in big urban areas like Hanoi,HCM City and tourism sites like Phu Quoc Island.

Among proposed measuresto deal with the problem, are completion of legal regulations and improvingwaste treatment technology by recycling, burning or turning waste intofertiliser (at present, around 80 percent of household rubbish are dumped,posing high risk of pollution).   
Raising public awareness of environmental protection andincreasing inspection and supervision were also needed, the deputy ministersaid.

Regarding Phu Quoc Island, Nhan said the ministry would instructauthorities to map out strict measures to deal with the issue, particularlyoverloaded waste dumping stations.

Bui Thi An, chairwoman of the Institute of Natural Resources andCommunity Development, told the newspaper that one of the problems was that Vietnamdoes not classify rubbish. People should also throw rubbish in the rightplace as regulated, she said, adding that stricter State management and heavierpunishment should be applied for violators.

Tang Thi Chinh from the Institute of Environmental Technology saidif each household spent five to ten minutes per day to classify their rubbish,they could save billions of VND in waste treatment facilities.

She suggested increasing information dissemination to raise publicawareness and particularly educating children about environmental protection.

The fight against rubbish will only be effective in protecting thecountry’s environment when awareness and mindset are improved, she said.-VNA