Overnight environmental protection on Vinh city's walking streets

Vinh city walking streethas been in operation for 3 months with many attractive art programs, interspersed with many rich and diverse booths to serve the entertainment and shopping needs of residents and tourists.

Around 11pm every weekend night, after the walking street stops operating, sanitation workers quietly start collecting garbage. Photo: QA

With the large number of people coming here, the amount of waste has increased many times compared to normal days, while the walking streets always have to operate 24/24 hours (organizing walking streets at night, serving people's travel during the day), so ensuring the environment here is always a top priority for Vinh City. The city has directed the environmental company to coordinate with local authorities to collect waste and clean up after each time the walking streets operate.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, an employee of Nghe An Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company, said: Since the walking street was put into operation, our work has increased many times over because the amount of waste every night is very large, mainly food, drinks, plastic bags... If on normal days, there are only 2 people in charge of cleaning these streets, then on weekends, it takes 10 people to complete the job.

"The walking street usually closes at 11pm, which is also the time we start our work, first collecting trash from the trash bins to put them in the truck, then checking all the streets to sweep and clean them. There are days when we finish work at 2-3am, go home and take a nap before continuing the shift the next morning..." - Ms. Hien confided.

The amount of garbage on the walking street is many times higher than usual. Photo: QA

Not only Ms. Hien, but also the environmental sanitation team in charge of the walking street. Accordingly, this team has 10 employees, including cleaners, water pumpers, and garbage truck drivers. Before opening the walking street, the team collected, swept, and watered the area. After the walking street stops operating, the staff will clean and transport the garbage to Nghi Yen for treatment, ensuring the streets are clean the next morning.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, an environmental worker, shared: "Cleaning is a task we have to do, but there are nights when the amount of litter is very large, 10 times more than usual, so it is very tiring. Although the city has arranged trash cans for participants, many people eat and drink and throw it on the sidewalk, road, stone benches... causing pollution and making garbage collection more time-consuming. We just hope that participants in the walking street raise their awareness of environmental hygiene, and that is enough to make us happy...".

Littering is common on walking streets. Photo: QA

In fact, Vinh city has arranged 150 trash bins distributed on the streets, including 100 fixed trash bins and 50 mobile trash bins, however, littering is still a common occurrence. In addition, businesses on the walking street, especially food and beverage businesses, are required to clean up after closing, but some businesses have not complied seriously.

The environmental workers' work doesn't finish until 2-3am, but they still try to complete their tasks. Photo: QA

Discussing this issue, a representative of the Vinh Walking Street Management Board said: Ensuring the environment in the walking street is always a top priority. During the walking street, the unit continuously propagates on loudspeakers to request people and tourists to dispose of garbage in the right place. At the same time, the police and security forces also regularly inspect the streets on this issue. In fact, some unsanitary stalls have been fined and required to temporarily stop operating. For those who litter, the unit initially warns them, and if they repeat the offense, they will be punished according to regulations.