The Ba Bo Canal drainage project remains a pipe dream for local residents who suffer its deadly fumes daily.

The blackened canal near Road 43 leading into Binh Chieu Ward in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc District is an eyesore for all, not to mention a hazard to residents in the vicinity.

As Thanh Nien correspondents got closer to the Ba Bo Canal, the intensity of noxious fumes overwhelmed the area.

The waterway, which runs along the border of HCMC and Binh Duong Province, has long been contaminated by large amounts of wastewater discharged from nearby industrial parks.

“You should wear a face mask or you will be staggered by the smell of the canal,” Lam Quang Trong, a local, told Thanh Nien.

Other local residents told Thanh Nien they were usually hit hard during the rainy season as the blackened water surged and flooded their homes.

Since the pollution at the canal worsened several years ago, locals said they and their children have often been afflicted with various respiratory and skin-related diseases.

Worries about the impact of pollution on the community were exacerbated as Thanh Nien correspondents discovered a 10-hectare area on the lower reach of the canal exploited to grow edible spinach.

Resident Trong voiced concern that the residential areas surrounding the canal would sooner or later become “cancer areas” due to the serious pollution.

The fact-finding visit to the Ba Bo Canal by Thanh Nien correspondents was made just last week, four years after local residents sounded a public outcry about the heavy pollution problem at the site.

Action needed

The HCMC administration first approved in principle the US$18.5 million Ba Bo Canal drainage project in October 2003 and deputed relevant agencies to carry out the work.

But the project stalled due to superfluous formalities and continuous amendments on paper.

With pollution at the canal getting worse a year later, HCMC deputies repeatedly pushed agencies concerned to expedite the process and implement necessary solutions.

However, authorities have repeatedly deferred responsibilities, incensing deputies who demanded radical measures to address the contamination woes.

At the latest session of the HCMC People’s Council held earlier this month, the deputies once again lambasted the delay of the project, which was originally scheduled to commence in November this year.

The deputies pressed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to announce the exact timeframe of the project.

Yet, Dao Anh Kiet, the department head, failed to clarify when the project would begin.

Empty promises

Many deputies have aired grievances protesting the postponement of the project, saying affected residents are fed up with dealing with the destructive pollution at the canal.

Deputy Nguyen Minh Huong from HCMC Television said over the past years, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment had too often promised, but not delivered, on launching the drainage project.

“Please do not promise anymore. I keep asking about this [project] but there are no signs of improvement,” Huong told HCMC’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment at the July session of the city legislature.

A 73-year-old deputy, Pham Minh Tri, said: “I’m afraid I would die before this promise is delivered.”

At the session, Deputy Dang Van Khoa also lambasted the irresponsibility of businesses discharging the wastewater, saying they had turned a blind eye to the health of the affected public.

Source: Thanh Nien Daily