Community awareness needs to be raised.

(Baonghean)The Dien Thanh beach resort in Dien Thanh commune (Dien Chau district) is currently in the peak of the summer tourist season. With well-developed infrastructure and abundant seafood, it is becoming an attractive tourist destination. However, for various reasons, the unresolved issue of environmental management on the beach is somewhat diminishing the competitiveness of this tourist spot.

Dien Thanh beach has seen infrastructure development and has been developed for tourism purposes in the last 10 years. With the increasing number of tourists, especially during the summer, and the growing needs of the local population, the Dien Thanh commune and Dien Chau district authorities have prioritized environmental protection from the outset to maintain the cleanliness of the beach and support tourism activities.

Currently, according to information from the People's Committee of Dien Thanh commune, the commune has implemented a waste management project by assigning the Tien Thanh Cooperative to collect and process household waste for 11 hamlets, serving 2,240 households out of a total of 11,526 people. Each household contributes 8,000 VND per month to the cooperative to fund its operations and waste collection and processing. In addition, the People's Committee of Dien Thanh commune has established a Management Board for the Dien Thanh Beach tourist area, which includes a waste collection team along the beach. All waste is collected at three designated waste disposal sites in hamlets 3, 4, and 11, where the Tien Thanh Cooperative dries, incinerates the waste, and sprays it with insecticide to repel flies.

Ms. Le Thi Huong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Thanh commune, said: "Waste from Dien Thanh beach is collected and processed at a landfill in Hamlet 11 with an area of ​​1,200 square meters. Recently, due to the excessive amount of waste, the landfill has become overloaded, so the People's Committee of the commune has expanded the landfill by an additional 1,000 square meters."



Uncollected trash remains on Dien Thanh beach.

However, the local authorities' efforts have not yet completely resolved the waste problem at Dien Thanh beach. On the morning of May 30th, observing the beach firsthand, we still saw waste scattered along the shore. In many places, the waste was collected in sand pits right on the beach and burned.

Mr. Cao Bá Chinh, owner of Chinh Huyền restaurant on Diễn Thành beach, said: “As a business operating in a tourist area, we want the beach to be clean to attract visitors. However, the amount of trash flowing from the Bùng River into the sea is significant, causing considerable disruption. Visitors have complained about the trash, water hyacinth, and murky seawater. We regularly cooperate with the environmental sanitation team to clean up the trash on the beach in front of our restaurant, but sometimes we can't keep up.”

According to our investigation, the cause of this situation is that Dien Thanh beach is located next to the Van estuary – the final point where the Bung River flows into the East Sea. Therefore, waste from the localities along the Bung River and water hyacinth are often carried out to sea by the water. Whenever the Dien Thanh and Dien Ngoc sluice gates open to release water, the waves wash it back onto the beach.

In a discussion with us about measures to thoroughly address the situation, Ms. Le Thi Huong, Vice Chairman of Dien Thanh commune, suggested: “The commune hopes that the higher authorities will pay attention to dredging the Bung River and taking measures to deal with water hyacinth. In particular, solutions are needed to ensure environmental hygiene for residents living along the Bung River, preventing indiscriminate dumping of garbage into the river, thus protecting the environment at the estuary. In addition, the commune also requests the district to provide the commune with a garbage truck to facilitate waste transportation, which is currently facing many difficulties.”

Therefore, to solve the waste problem at Dien Thanh beach, the responsibility does not only lie with Dien Thanh commune but also involves many localities along the Bung River. Currently, Dien Chau district is implementing the project: "Expanding the model of waste collection, transportation and treatment for environmental sanitation in the district," which is related to the collection and treatment of waste in communes along the Bung River. However, the dissemination of environmental protection laws in some localities is still limited, thus, the indiscriminate dumping of waste in some places such as bridges, culverts, canals, ditches, river dikes, sea dikes, and border areas between communes, especially communes, hamlets, and households living along the Bung River... still occurs and has not been thoroughly addressed.

Mr. Ngo Dinh Tuu, Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Dien Chau district, said: "Dien Thanh beach tourist area is one of the important tourist destinations of Dien Chau, so the district pays close attention to directing the local authorities to collect and process waste on-site. However, the issue of completely eliminating the amount of waste flowing from the Bung River into the sea at Dien Thanh requires a long-term process through intensified propaganda to raise awareness of environmental hygiene among people living along the Bung River."

Therefore, in order for Dien Thanh beach resort to become a truly attractive tourist destination, in addition to the efforts of the local government, the implementation of the Project: "Replicating the model of waste collection, transportation and treatment for environmental sanitation in the district" needs to be carried out synchronously by Dien Chau district, especially raising the environmental protection awareness of the general population and people living along the Bung River in particular.

Phuoc Anh