Raw sewage from  A truck pumping toilet waste gathered by the Soc Son Urban Environment Company, which is in charge of dealing with sewage from Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport. The truck was later seen pumping the waste directly to a rice field in Guess where the toilet waste from airplanes and airport terminals end up? In the case of The Soc Son Urban Environment Company, which is in charge of collecting human waste from the airport, only transports the waste to a nearby site. Nguyen Truong Giang, director of the Soc Son Urban Environment Company, said his company hired the Hanoi Drainage and Environment Hygiene Company to treat the waste because Soc Son lacks facilities to do so itself. “They send trucks to carry the waste from our site every day,” he said. However, Giang said he is unclear about how they handle the waste after that. “Each year, “The airport pumped sewage into nearby fields and ponds without concern for how it would affect the environment,” he said. On August 31, Vietweek reporters followed a Hanoi Drainage and Environment Hygiene Company truck carrying away waste from the site near the airport where the Soc Son Urban Environment Company stores it. After driving for nearly 80 kilometers, the truck stopped in an uninhabited area near The driver drove away immediately upon seeing passersby approaching. Tu Minh Quan, director of Hanoi Drainage and Environment Hygiene Company, admitted his firm had been contracted to treat airport waste. He claimed that his company subcontracted the Song Gianh Company and the Ha Noi Urban Environmental Hygiene Joint Stock Company to treat the waste. However, he was unable substantiate that claim with documentation. “We agreed to give them the waste for free and thus, we do not keep records,” Quan claimed. Meanwhile, the two firms told Vietweek they have never taken any waste from Quan’s company. Ngo Minh Le, manager of the Song Gianh Company’s Hanoi Branch, said his company agreed to take toilet waste based on demand for compost fertilizer. “But we have never received any waste from them because we have yet to experience the demand,” he said. Nguyen Dinh Hue, general secretary of the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, said human waste from the airport should be treated properly because it can spread diseases. “Some passengers may be coming from areas where there is a pandemic. Moreover, the chemicals used in airplane toilets can also harm the environment if discharged without treatment,” he said. The case highlights According to the World Health Organization, about 2.4 billion people across the globe do not have access to safe means of disposing of excreta and waste water. Diseases caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation, and poor personal and domestic hygiene are responsible for 4 percent of all deaths and 5.7 percent of all disabilities and illnesses worldwide. The Hanoi Environment Police Department says that Song Gianh and Hanoi Urban Environmental Hygiene are the only two companies in Lieutenant Colonel Pham Hoang Cam said he ordered a probe into He admitted that the treatment of toilet waste in “ On August 6, local residents caught a tank truck belonging to the Thang Long Urban Environment and Construction Company discharging waste into a sewer near the To Lich River in The driver, Nguyen Thanh Tam, admitted that the waste had come from the toilet of a house on A day earlier, In a recent investigation, Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper exposed the fact that several new residential areas in My Dinh – Me Tri, a new urban area funded by the Song Da Urban & Industrial Zone Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, discharges untreated wastewater into the Cau Nang Canal. At the new Van Khe urban area funded by the Song Da Thang Long Company, many residents have complained about pollution. Ngoc, a local resident, said wastewater has been discharged directly into the “I don’t know when we will live in a clean environment,” she said. Lieu. Col. Cam of the He said there should be strict regulations on the management of tank trucks that transport human waste. “Moreover, By Ha An - |
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