Early treatment of pollution at Tay Nam General Hospital

(Baonghean)According to local residents, the incinerator of the Southwest Regional General Hospital is broken, and there is no wastewater drainage system. Therefore, for many years now, the hospital's waste and wastewater have been discharged directly into the environment without treatment, seriously affecting the living environment of local residents.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung in Hamlet 6, Block 1, Con Cuong Town, was upset: "The residential area is 80m from the hospital fence but there is no boundary because the hospital's waste storage area is almost exposed. Next to it is a wastewater pond close to the road leading to the residential area, causing serious environmental pollution. Not only that, on the days the hospital burns waste, the smoke and smell of burning are extremely suffocating"... Mr. Cao Ba Thuy - deputy block, police officer of Block 1, just used a shovel to shovel soil to build a bank to prevent water from overflowing from the pond to flow through the house, clearly showing his annoyance: "The residential area is lower than the surface of the pond, so every time it rains, we have to worry about building the bank. But that is light rain, but if it rains heavily, we have to give up because no amount of building is enough. Every rainy season, this area is no different from a stagnant, foul-smelling pond, with the risk of spreading all kinds of diseases, few people want to come. This incident has been going on for a long time and we have commented many times but still not resolved".

In response to concerns from the people, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Son - Director of the Southwest Regional General Hospital said: "The hospital's wastewater is actually domestic water, because there is no drainage ditch, it must be discharged into the pond. The hospital does not burn waste, but recently the Medical Center, next to the hospital, burned expired drugs, the smoke emitted a burning smell, so the people mistakenly reported. Moreover, the hospital only discharges domestic waste, not medical waste; medical waste was previously buried along the hospital fence, but for a long time has been put in separate bags to be buried, as for highly harmful waste, the hospital has filled two pits and sealed them so they cannot be opened, and they do not seep into the ground. In the near future, the hospital will move to a new area, so there will be no more investment or renovation here."



People built embankments to prevent hospital wastewater from flooding into their homes.

However, in an exchange with us, Mr. Mai Quang Hoi - Vice Chairman of the Town People's Committee said: Receiving the people's feedback, the People's Committee of Con Cuong Town has established an inspection team and the results show that it is as reflected. The Southwest Regional General Hospital collects domestic waste and special waste in one place, they do not classify it. After many times the Town People's Committee worked with the hospital, this unit asked for a contract with the Town Environmental Sanitation Team to handle special waste, but because the entrance road was muddy, domestic waste mixed with medical waste, causing difficulties in collection, workers were stabbed by needles which was very dangerous.

Thus, the problem of waste and wastewater affecting the living environment of the residential area around the Southwest Regional General Hospital is well-founded. Therefore, the Southwest Regional General Hospital needs to take effective measures soon to stabilize the psychology and ensure the living environment of the people. Along with that, it is necessary to speed up the completion of the new hospital to ensure medical examination and treatment conditions for the people and not affect the environment.

Quang An - Tran Le