HCM City aims to reduce litter dropping

HCM CITY — Bình Điền Wholesale Market in HCM City’s District  八 wants city authorities to help reduce the waste it produces.

During a visit by the deputy chief of the city Party Co妹妹ittee, Võ Thị Dung, to the market on October  二 九, its director, Trần Thị Thuý Liên, said city authorities should persuade provinces that supply foods like Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông and Tiền Giang to improve the packaging quality of goods they send to the city’s three wholesale markets.

She said  一 七0- 二00 tonnes of mud come with meats, vegetables and fruits every month, costing up to VNĐ 三 billion a year to dispose of.

This cost cannot be collected from the suppliers, she said.

Bình Điền Market Trading and Management Co., which runs the market, seeks assistance from city agencies to clean the mud, she said.

According to the deputy director of the city Department of Trade and Industry, Nguyễn Huỳnh Trang, there are regulations for preliminary processing of food, and so to reduce the waste generated, Bình Điền Market Trading and Management Co. should carefully check semi-processed goods when they are delivered.

A spokesperson for the department called on the company to reduce the area where food is processed and instead ensure they are processed at source.

Dung said the company should better educate traders in the market about waste discharge regulations and penalise violators.

To ensure these measures are enforced successfully, it should install cameras in the market for monitoring, he added.

Covering  六 五ha near Nguyễn Văn Linh Road, Bình Điền Wholesale Market is the largest one in HCM City. It provides agricultural products and food for the South and South Central Coast’s provinces. 

The market is located at the western gateway of HCM City, about  五km from Phú Mỹ Hưng Urban Area,  七00m from the Highway  一A and along the Bến Lức River, very suitable for transporting goods on the waterway.

As many as  一, 七 五0 tonnes of products are collected per night at the market, valued at VNĐ 四 八- 五0 billion (US$ 二. 三 million). Aquatic products account for  六 五 per cent of the total revenue; meat of different types making up about  二 二 per cent; vegetables about  一0 per cent, fruit about  二. 五 per cent; and dried seafood 0. 五 per cent. — VNS.