The relocation plan is just on papers

According to Nguyen Cong Hoa, director of the Management Board of Cat Ba archipelago’s Bays, 12 workers and 4 environmental sanitation vessels work at full capacity, including on Sunday, collecting garbage to protect the environment of the bay in high tourism season. About 10 cubic meters of garbage is collected every day.

However, travelers still complain that waste can be seen everywhere and the air is seriously polluted. The situation is worse on hot days.

NHN, a sanitation worker, said he and his colleagues pick up waste three times a day on Cat Ba. However, soon after they leave, travelers throw litter again.

When some travelers complained they were ‘attacked’ by dirty water, a local man said most of the waste water is not treated. The bad odors are generated when the tide rises and sea breeze blows.

Dang Dinh Hoa, director of the Cat Hai Urban Works Management Company, said the waste water plant has capacity big enough to satisfy 2,000 travelers a day. 

Meanwhile, the number of travelers to the islands has been soaring since early 2017, sometimes reaching 10,000 travelers a day. As a result, the plant is overloaded and waste water spills onto the roads and flows into the sea.

The thousands of fish cages and tourist vessels carrying passengers to areas with high biological sensitivity have also contributed to increased pollution in Lan Ha Bay.

A report from the bay management board showed that there are 441 aquaculture facilities. The waste water from the area is entering the bay without any treatment.

Pollutants also come from petroleum service units and fish farming establishments which discharge undigested fish feed to the environment. 

The styrofoam boxes used in fish farming, under the influence of wind and waves, crumble and pollute the surface water. All these generate solid waste in the reef tidal flats, spoiling the habitat of bottom-dwelling organisms such as coral and algae.

The Lan Ha Bay Board of Management has persuaded the owners of farming facilities to take out cages and facilities, and stop breeding mollusks, and asked vehicle owners to relocate their fishing instruments and mechanical engineering yards.

It is expected that 289 aquaculture establishments will be relocated out of the bay by 2020. However, analysts warn that this will be a complicated and time-consuming process.

Kinh te & Do Thi quoted its sources as reporting that the relocation plan is just on paper, while there has been no concrete solution. 

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