About VND3 billion (US$134,490) is needed for treating rubbish in Ho Chi Minh City on a daily basis, creating heavy burden on the city’s coffers.

The municipal Party Committee has therefore been re-evaluating the cost and operations at the Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex in Binh Chanh District.

The Vietnam Waste Solutions Corporation (VWS), investor of the zone, originally received $16.4 for the treatment of every metric ton of rubbish.

While the cost is meant to also cover expenses for processing compost and producing organic fertilizers, most of the garbage has been buried underground at Da Phuoc.

The Party Committee also tasked relevant agencies to work with VWS on a more suitable price for the treating procedure, after assigning the company with an additional 2,000 metric tons of rubbish a day. VWS therefore receives 5,000 metric tons of trash on a daily basis, the largest in the city.

A probe by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper showed that VWS had raised waste treatment cost to $20.166 per metric ton by October last year, which indicates that over $100,000 from the city budget has to be expensed for waste disposal every day.

To deal with the remaining amount of rubbish in the metropolis, the city leaders have to pay investors of the Phuoc Hiep Treatment Zone in Cu Chi District another $40,000 for the 2,000 metric tons of waste they accept per day.

Such cost excludes the expenditure needed for other steps in the waste management process, namely collection, transport, and environmental control among others.

In a bid to alleviate pressure on the city’s budget, competent authorities are negotiating with VWS, asking the firm to lower their cost to $17 per metric ton.

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