Foul odors emitting from overflowing garbage next to an idle waste incineration plant in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam have sparked anger among the locals in the area, said an official.

Huynh Thanh Phuong, vice-chairman of the administration of My Luong Town, Cho Moi District, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that this year, the locals have been complaining about the increasing levels of pollution at the My Luong garbage dump, located amid a paddy field next to the namesake waste treatment plant in the town.

“We reported the issue to upper authorities, but the plant has yet to be put into service,” Phuong said.

The whole district discharges more than 140 metric tons of waste daily, with 60 metric tons going to the dumpsite in My Luong, said a representative of Cho Moi Urban Environment Company, a subsidiary of An Giang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company, the developer of the plant.

“Waste at the dumpsite is overflowing. We’re still seeking another location,” the representative added.

Nguyen Ngoc Son, board chairman at An Giang Urban Environment Company, told Tuoi Tre that work on the My Luong waste incineration plant already reached completion, but the facility has remained idle for almost one year.

The plant, worth over VND33.7 billion (US$1.4 million) in investment, was designed to treat 100 metric tons of waste per day.

Despite its completion, the contractor refused to operate the plant to determine the capacity and temperature of its incinerator, while demanding another payment worth 15 percent of the contract before taking further steps, Son said.

In September last year, An Giang Urban Environment Company selected a new contractor, which then inspected the plant and concluded that the facility could operate at around 60 percent of its capacity and lacked necessary equipment.

​Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!