In order to keep Ha Long Bay relatively clean for tourists, local authorities in Quang Ninh province are currently struggling to deal with the massive amount of rubbish found in the bay on a daily basis.
In a recent interview with Tuoi Tre, Tran Quoc Minh, director of Ha Long's Public Works Office, shared that his team has to remove around two tons of trash from Ha Long’s waters every day. Some of the waste comes from land, but Minh said that most of the trash is discarded by fishing and tourist boats.
His team currently has four ships tasked with cleaning up the coast in an area that’s eight kilometers long and 700 meters wide. The problem is usually worse during the rainy season, as the water carries waste from land to the coastal areas.
Minh also added that, at the moment, the office can only get rid of trash and not other forms of pollution such as oil spills or dissolved chemicals. To do this, Minh has contracted with two private firms to remove Ha Long’s rubbish at a cost of VND4.2 billion (US$184,216) per year for the core area of the bay and VND1.6 billion (US$70,176) per year for the coastal area.
[Photo via Tien Phong]
