HCM City to get more plants to treat growing toxic-waste

Nguyen Van Phuoc, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Natural Resources, spoke to the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper about policies for investors in toxic waste-treatment plants.

Can you speak about the toxic waste situation and the capacity of treating toxic waste in HCM City?

Enterprises in HCM City release about 300 tonnes of toxic wastes a day. In addition, hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste from neigh-bouring provinces are transported into the city each day.

The city cannot thoroughly dispose of all the toxic waste because it has about 20 units that collect, transport and treat waste, but they have small capacity.

Where are the remaining amounts of untreated toxic waste kept?

Most of it is stealthily dumped into the environment. The city environment police has discovered several cases of illegal dumping and fined the violators. However, it is difficult to stop because the city faces a shortage of investors who can receive and treat toxic waste at a reasonable price.

What has the department done to solve the problem?

We have called for private and public investment in toxic waste treatment. The policies have been applied successfully in urban waste treatment and more than 6,500 tonnes of the city's daily urban waste are collected and treated thoroughly.

Three investors have registered to invest in toxic waste treatment projects. They are the Viet Nam Waste Solution, the Moc An Chau Company and the city's Urban Environment Company.

If the three projects operate by 2015, the city will not face a shortage of toxic waste treatment plants.

Does the city face a shortage of land to build toxic-waste treatment plants?

This is the biggest obstacle. However, the city will allocate land for investors next year. It is expected that 200ha in the city's northwest region in Cu Chi District will be chosen to build toxic waste treatment plants.

The Cu Chi District People's Committee has said it should not build toxic waste treatment plants there because the district is in the city's upper area and construction of plants will affect underground water sources. What do you think?

Toxic waste treatment plants can only affect underground water sources if the plants do not treat the waste well. There are strict criteria for selecting investors for these plants. The city gives priorities to investors who use advanced technologies to burn toxic waste and they only bury toxic waste ash and toxic waste that cannot be burnt.

The burying of toxic waste is assigned to the city's Urban Environment Company, not to other toxic waste treatment units. In addition, investors of toxic waste treatment plants must build standard wastewater treatment facilities because there is a situation in which toxic waste is pre-treated first by washing.

We will give priorities to investors who have eligible capacity and have been investing in waste treatment in the city.

Which preferential policies will investors receive if they invest in toxic waste treatment?

Investors will be offered free land rentals. The city will help build electricity, telecommunications and water supply as well as drainage networks to toxic waste treatment plants.

Investors will receive corporate income tax exemption in the first year of operation and will pay only 50 per cent of corporate income tax beginning the second year of operation. All imported facilities used for toxic waste treatment will enjoy zero-per cent import tariff.

There are many preferential policies. Why are there few investors registering to invest in this field?

There are two main reasons. First, the city does not have land available for investors. Second, only investors who have strong financial capacity can invest in this field. Although few investors have expressed interest, the capacity of investors who have registered is very high.

The Viet Nam Waste Solution Company has registered to build a toxic waste treatment plant with a capital of US$30 million. The Moc An Chau Company and the city's Urban Environment Company each have registered to invest $70 million for their toxic-waste treatment plant projects.

We will try to allocate land for the investors as soon as possible so the toxic waste treatment plant projects can operate soon.

When will these investors be allocated land to build toxic waste treatment plants?

In 2011, the city will allocate land in the city's northwestern solid waste treatment complex in Cu Chi District for investors.

Previously, the Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex did not treat toxic waste so it needs to adjust its zoning plan. A plan to adjust the function of that complex has been approved by the municipal People's Committee, so the Viet Nam Waste Solution's toxic-waste treatment plant project can be implemented soon. They will not have to wait for land in Cu Chi District. — VNS