Solving the problem of garbage backlog in Con Dao

Garbage in Bai Nhat area is piled up like a "mountain". (Photo taken on March 13)

Garbage piled up like... "mountains"

According to a reporter from Ba Ria-Vung Tau Newspaper in Bai Nhat area on a day at the end of March, the garbage was piled up like a "mountain". The wind blew strongly, and the garbage at the collection site flew everywhere. Workers from the Con Dao District Public Works Management Board had to use nets to surround the newly dumped areas to prevent the garbage from flying onto the road and into the sea.

According to Mr. Bui Dang Tuan Anh, Acting Director of the Project Management Board for Investment, Construction and Land Fund Development of Con Dao District (abbreviated as the Project Management Board), since 2014, Con Dao District has invested in a technological waste incinerator at this landfill, but the processing capacity is only about 5 tons of waste/day. Thus, there are still about 20 tons of waste/day that have not been processed at Bai Nhat, making this landfill even more overloaded.

Faced with the increasing pressure of waste, 6 years ago, the local government calculated a waste treatment plan for Con Dao in 2 ways: building a waste treatment plant in Bai Nhat area from socialized sources, and at the same time building a policy to call for investment in a waste treatment plant with advanced technology in Ben Dam area. According to the Project Management Board, at that time, the amount of waste in Bai Nhat was about 70 thousand tons, and now it has increased to more than 100 thousand tons.

After many meetings, in 2020, the Provincial People's Committee decided to approve the selection of the consortium of Kim Truong Phat Investment Joint Stock Company and HT Giang San Joint Stock Company as partners to handle the remaining waste using on-site burning technology. Accordingly, the partners must invest in building factories, installing production lines, technological equipment, installing factories, and waste burning lines using the company's capital. Waste treatment is paid for at a unit price of 630,000 VND/ton from the target capital of Con Dao district.

In February 2022, the waste incineration plant was built and basically completed by 2023. In December 2023, the Con Dao District Construction Investment Project Management Board (now the Con Dao District Land Fund Development and Investment Project Management Board) and the consortium of Kim Truong Phat Investment Joint Stock Company and Giang San HT Joint Stock Company signed economic contract No. 80/2023/HDKT-LQDA-KTP. By the end of 2023, the consortium had put the plant into trial operation and burned more than 10 tons/day.

According to the roadmap, during the project's trial run, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment), the Department of Construction, the Project Management Board and specialized agencies under the People's Committee of Con Dao district will re-evaluate the temperature, emissions... If the standards are met, the unit will continue to process the remaining waste of more than 70,000 tons (this amount of waste is calculated as of 2019) within 11 months from the official operation date. However, after only 2 weeks of trial run, the plant stopped operating for many reasons, including the reason that the partner had financial difficulties.

Thus, according to the signed contract (waste treatment period from May 2024 and expiring on November 20, 2024), the partner has failed to perform as committed. Con Dao district has repeatedly invited the consortium to attend meetings to resolve issues related to the operation of the plant; liquidate the waste treatment contract and agree on measures to overcome the delay in burning waste, but there is still no solution.

According to the Management Board of Public Works of Con Dao District, the amount of domestic waste generated in the district is currently 24-25 tons/day. All domestic waste in the district, after being classified, is collected and brought to Bai Nhat landfill for treatment. The amount of waste accumulated is too large, leading to an overload situation for nearly 30 years.

Proposal to continue to let old partners handle backlog of waste

In Decision No. 2206/QD-UBND, the Provincial People's Committee assigned Con Dao district to be the investor and implement the project using the public capital allocated to the district. Then, the district assigned the Project Management Board to be the investor and signed a contract with the partner. Because the partner had not yet implemented waste treatment while the contract expired, in December 2024 and February 2025, Con Dao district sent two official dispatches requesting the province to consider terminating the decision to select the partner.

However, Mr. Le Anh Tu, Secretary of Con Dao District Party Committee, said that up to now, after reviewing, Con Dao district has realized that terminating the selection of the above partner may encounter some difficulties. Choosing another replacement partner will also take time to re-perform legal procedures...

To remove obstacles and promptly implement the treatment of backlog waste, Con Dao district proposed that the province consider adjusting the content of Decision No. 2206. The proposed adjustment is to replace the content "assigning the People's Committee of Con Dao district as the investor" with the content "assigning the People's Committee of Con Dao district to organize the implementation". This is to ensure strictness and clarity in the authority to sign contracts with partners, proactively organize the implementation and acceptance, and finalize the payment of expenses. The partner also expressed the desire and determination to complete the task of treating the backlog of waste in the Bai Nhat area.

Article and photos: QUANG VU

Source: https://baobariavungtau.com.vn/kinh-te/202504/giai-bai-toan-rac-ton-dong-o-con-dao-1038522/