Dong Nai (VNA) – The Ministry of Defence on September 16 launchedthe construction of infrastructure to address dioxin contamination at Bien HoaAirport in Bien Hoa city, the southern province of Dong Nai.
The project has total investment of 270 billion VND (11.8 million USD) from theState budget.
Key facilities include disarming war-time mines and bombs, building roads,zoning off dioxin contaminated areas and removing organisations and military worksfrom the new detected squalid regions.
Speaking at the launching, Deputy Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant GeneralNguyen Chi Vinh said that the project shows Vietnamese Government’s efforts intackling post-war bombs and mines as well as toxic chemicals in hot spots.
Once completed, it will help officials, soldiers and local people reduce theirexposure to detrimental dioxin, he highlighted.
The move is a technical infrastructure preparation for a dioxin treatmentproject worth 500 million USD in non-refundable official development assistancefrom the US and other partners. Construction of the dioxin treatment projectwill begin latter this year, he added.
Bien Hoa Airport is considered as one of the dioxin hot spots in the countrydue to its high level of the chemical. According to assessments from Vietnamand the US, some 500,000 cubic metres of dioxin contaminated land in theairport need to be treated, requiring a large amount of capital and technology.-VNA