Residents demand compensation over pollution

HÀ NỘI — Residents on the outskirts of Hà Nội affected by serious pollution have urged local authorities to pay them compensation by the end of this month.

About 120 households, representing residents in Nam Sơn, Bắc Sơn and Hồng Kỳ communes of Sóc Sơn District, on Wednesday had a dialogue with concerned organisations about the pollution caused by the Nam Sơn dumping ground.

Speaking at the dialogue, residents urged district and municipal authorities and concerned organisations to speed up the process of ground clearance and pay their compensation this month.

They also said the compensation offered was too low, at only VNĐ866,000 (US$37) per square metre whereas prices for land in the resettlement area were VNĐ4 million ($170) per square metre.

In response, Sóc Sơn District People’s Committee detailed ground clearance policies and the difficulties in closing the Nam Sơn dumping ground, the biggest in the capital.

Nguyễn Hữu Hùng, deputy director of Sóc Sơn District Land Fund Development Centre, said the district paid VNĐ90 billion ($3.9 million) to residents in Liên Xuân and Xuân Bảng villages in Nam Sơn Commune on Tuesday. It paid VNĐ89 billion ($3.8 million) to residents in Đông Hạ Village of Nam Sơn Commune on Wednesday, and planned to pay VNĐ34.45 billion ($1.5 million) to residents in Village 2 of Hồng Kỳ Commune on Friday.

Hùng said ground clearance in the three communes had been a struggle and affected the project’s process.

Nguyễn Quang Hòa, chairman of the Nam Sơn Commune People’s Committee, asked district authorities to resolve every difficulty, approve plans about land and accommodations, and implement supportive polices within July.

Earlier this year, residents living around the dumping ground blocked garbage trucks from entering the area to oppose the sluggish process of land clearance and compensation for a relocation project.

The protest led to rubbish piling up on the streets and near apartment buildings in Hà Nội’s inner districts.

A project to relocate three communes was approved by local authorities in 2017 due to severe pollution.

Nam Sơn dump receives some 5,000 tonnes of garbage a day from inner districts.

After garbage trucks were blocked by local residents, the Hà Nội Department of Construction issued a temporary plan to treat the rubbish.

Rubbish from Hoàn Kiếm, Ba Đình, Hai Bà Trưng and Đống Đa districts, which amounts to 215-430 tonnes per day, will be transported to Cầu Diễn and Lâm Du wards in Long Biên District.

About 313 tonnes of rubbish from Long Biên District per day will be transported to the Kiêu Kỵ Rubbish Treatment Centre in Gia Lâm District.

About 405 tonnes from Thanh Xuân District and 165 tonnes from Hoài Đức District per day will be moved to the Xuân Sơn Waste Treatment Plant in Sơn Tây District.

Rubbish from Hà Đông, Nam Từ Liêm, Bắc Từ Liêm, Tây Hồ, Hoàng Mai and Cầu Giấy districts will be sent to the Xuân Sơn solid waste burial ground in Sơn Tây District.

Rubbish from Đông Anh, Thanh Trì, Gia Lâm, Mê Linh and Sóc Sơn districts will be treated in the localities. — VNS