Hanoi’s Soc Son district urged to relocate residents affected by landfill

Hanoi (VNA) - Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has ordered authorities of Soc Son district to accelerate land clearance and compensation for residents affected by the Nam Son Waste Treatment Complex or Nam Son dumping ground.

Earlier this month, local residents blocked garbage trucks attempting to carry waste to the dump to protest the sluggish process of land clearance and compensation for a relocation project.

In 2017, due to pollution caused by the Nam Son dump, local authorities approved a project to relocate more than 1,000 households of three communes - Bac Son, Hong Ky and Nam Son, out of the affected areas which are located less than 500m from the dump.

Chung assigned tasks to the People’s Committee of Soc Son district to complete work on compensation and resettlement assistance for the affected residents. The committee was ordered to approve compensation and use the budget correctly.

The budget for compensation will be sourced from the city’s investment fund for development.

Earlier city and district authorities held meetings with residents living around Nam Son dump to discuss solutions on land clearance and compensation. After the talks, protesters agreed to dismantle tents and clear the way leading to the dump.

Set up in 1999, the Nam Son garbage dump, covering an area of 83ha, receives more than 4,000 tonnes of waste per day from four of Hanoi’s inner districts.

The authorities approved a three-floor waste incinerator to reduce the amount of garbage and planned to close the dump by 2021.

In a related move, the municipal People’s Committee asked Soc Son district’s authorities to review violations of illegal construction on agricultural land and make a list of violations cases in five communes – Xuan Khu, Kim Lu, Dong Xuan, Phu Lo and Phu Minh.

The district authorities were urged to step up supervision on construction work and stiffen penalties on violators.

They were asked to review abandoned agricultural and public land and deal with violations related to handing over, leasing land or switching land-use purposes.

The city’s inspectorate and Department of Natural Resources and Environment were assigned to establish working teams to inspect illegal construction on agricultural and public land.

The orders were issued after 27 constructions including houses, villas and even an eco-tourism area with a swimming pool, stilt houses and concrete roads were found to have been illegally built on forest land in Soc Son district over the past two years.

The municipal People’s Committee asked the house owners to take the buildings down.-VNA