[enviro-vlc] ENV: Huge Volume of Rubbish Flowing into Vietnam from Cambodia

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: [vnnews-l] ENV: Huge Volume of Rubbish Flowing into Vietnam from Cambodia
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 13:36:43 -0800 (PST)
sent to vnnews-l by Stephen Denney <sdenney at OCF.Berkeley.EDU>



  Vietnam News Briefs: Health & Environment: Huge Volume of Rubbish Flowing
into Vietnam from Cambodia
Vietnam News Briefs (Vietnam) - Friday, February 6, 2009
from the VIETNAM NEWS BRIEFS, February 06, 2009 A huge volume of rubbish
from Cambodia is running into Vietnam through border gates in southwestern
provinces, the Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper said.

Most of the waste is coming into the country via the provinces of An Giang
and Dong Thap. In these localities, dozens of tons of waste are
transported by water and land each day, the newspaper added.

Waste from Cambodia includes steel scrap, waste paper, nylon, plastic,
glass bottles, used batteries, electronic waste, and pesticide containers,
the paper noted.

At the Tinh Bien international border gate in An Giang, there were lines
of trucks with Cambodian registration numbers carrying waste parked near
the border-gate check point of Vietnam. Waste mainly comes from Phnom Penh
and Ta Keo, goes along National Highway 2 of Cambodia to the border gate.

Vietnamese waste traders receive the waste at the border gate. They even
pay in advance to Cambodian partners to collect waste, which includes
banned things in Vietnam.

Chief of the An Giang provincial Customs Agency, Nguyen Thanh Tam, said
"Vietnam permits the import of some types of waste. Waste is checked at
border gates and only waste that is allowed by the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment can pass." A customs officer at the Tinh Bien
border gate said on average dozens of tons of waste goes through this
border gate.

Yet, waste not only comes into Vietnam through the border gate, but on
boats, which authorities can't control. (VietNamNet, Pioneer Feb 5 p10)
Copyright 2009 Vietnam News Briefs
Provided By: Financial Times Information Limited - Asia Africa
Intelligence Wire