Officials in Da Nang have raised concerns about the increased problems of flooding and environmental issues in the city.

Danang flooded after heavy rains on December 9 and 10

Nguyen Thanh Tien, head of the urban department under Danang People's Council, said the authorities had invested VND5.2trn (USD222.66m) in three drainage projects in the past 20 years. However, the city's drainage system is still out-dated and couldn't cope with the rains on December 9 and 10.

Urbanisation has reduced the number of lakes from 42 to 30. Meanwhile, the authorities haven't dredged and maintain the lakes for a long time.

"Over VND80bn (USD3.40m) spent on dredging the sewers so we must inspect the final work. We must review the drainage system, build anti-flood plan and investment wisely," said Nguyen Nho Trung, chairman of Danang People's Council.

After the plan to turn Danang into an environmentally-friendly city was issued in 2008, the authorities have successfully dealt with 7 out of 13 severely polluted locations. VND2.1trn (USD90m) have been spent on 2016-2018 period and VND6.8trn will be the investment for 2018-2020 period.

To Van Hung, director of Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said 900 to 1,000 tonnes of rubbish was discharged every day. The Asian Development Bank estimated that by 2025, the city will discharge up to 1,800 tonnes of rubbish daily. There are over 2.7 million tonnes of rubbish at Khanh Son Dumping Ground and the city will need an average of VND300bn (USD13m) to deal with its annual amount of rubbish.

He went on to say that many people still think that dealing with environmental issues were the responsibilities of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and related agencies alone.

"The public must understand that it's also their responsibility and other agencies must collaborate to deal with the problems," he said.

Starting from 2019, Danang authorities will implement litter classification plan at homes across the city as an attempt to cut costs of rubbish disposal.

Nguoi Lao Dong/Dtinews