Nghe An: Proposal to increase prices for collection, transportation and treatment of household waste

Attending the conference were comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of a number of relevant departments and branches.

The maximum price for collection and transportation of domestic waste in Nghe An province is stipulated in Decision No. 74/2016/QD-UBND dated December 20, 2016, effective from January 1, 2017, for solid waste treatment services, only the maximum price is stipulated for collection and transportation services, while the cost of domestic solid waste treatment is currently paid by the state budget.

Mr. Hoang Minh Quan - Head of Price and Public Asset Management Department, Nghe An Department of Finance presented the draft. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

According to statistics in 2017, the total cost of collecting, transporting and treating waste in the whole province was over 157.2 billion VND; the difference between revenue and expenditure was over 12.7 billion VND.

According to reports from districts and cities up to now, compared to the demand, the budget for collecting, transporting and treating household waste in some localities is still difficult (on average, only meeting 55% of the total demand).

On the other hand, the increasing living needs of people have led to a rapid increase in waste while the waste treatment infrastructure has not met the demand, leading to overload and increased waste treatment costs.

Currently, some districts and towns are moving towards waste treatment by incineration technology, helping to save land and reduce water pollution. However, if using this new technology, the cost of waste treatment is 5-8 times higher than the current traditional landfill method.

Overview of the meeting. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Therefore, to ensure the correct and adequate calculation of costs in the price of waste treatment services, it is necessary to promulgate the price of collection, transportation and treatment of domestic waste in the province. The regulation of collection levels and management regimes aims to create a source of funding for the collection, transportation and treatment of domestic waste, reducing the burden on the state budget.

Accordingly, the draft stipulates the collection level divided according to economic regions and meeting different waste treatment technology requirements; including 4 groups of subjects: Wards of Vinh city; communes of Vinh city and wards of towns and townships of Quynh Luu and Nghia Dan districts; towns of the remaining districts and communes of the remaining districts.

Garbage collection in Vinh city. Photo: Document

To ensure a reasonable and sustainable price increase roadmap for waste collection, transportation and treatment, and in line with people's ability to pay, the Department of Finance proposed an average increase of 30% as stipulated in Decision No. 74/2016/QD-UBND.

Specifically, for individual households not participating in business and not being poor households in Vinh City, the increase is from 3,000 - 4,000 VND/person/month; in districts and towns, the increase is from 2,000 - 2,500 VND/person/month. For poor households, about 70% of the unit price for non-poor households is applied.

Households participating in production and business in wards of Vinh city increased by 25 - 32%; communes of Vinh city and wards of towns and townships of Quynh Luu and Nghia Dan districts increased by 25 - 29%; towns of the remaining districts increased by 25 - 31%; and communes increased by 25 - 30%. Administrative and public service agencies, revenue-generating public service agencies, armed forces, national defense and security increased by 100%.

Hotels, motels, inns, and guesthouses: Vinh city, wards, towns, and townships of Quynh Luu and Nghia Dan districts increase by 50%, townships of the remaining districts increase by 40%, and the remaining communes increase by 30%.

Catering unit: Vinh city, wards and towns increase by 50%, towns and districts increase by 40%, remaining communes increase by 30%.

Market areas increased by about 20-25% in the whole province. Train stations, bus stations, cultural and sports centers, and entertainment venues increased by 33%.

At the conference, delegates basically agreed with the draft contents, and proposed that the fee level should be classified according to poor households, types and sizes of enterprises, types of markets, etc.

Comrade Le Xuan Dai delivered a concluding speech at the conference. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

Concluding the conference, comrade Le Xuan Dai requested the Department of Finance to take into account the delegates' comments to supplement the draft to be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee; at the same time, survey enterprises to advise on reasonable and regulated fee levels; it is necessary to consider fee levels appropriate to the socio-economic conditions and people's ability to pay. The goal is that this revenue will meet the spending needs for collection, transportation, and treatment of household waste in the province and increase the form of treatment by incineration technology./.