Beaches trashed in central, southern Vietnam

On Thursday morning, the beach along An Vinh Village next to Tinh Ky Port in the central province of Quang Ngai was covered in various types of garbage, including plastic bags and bottles, foam boxes, animal carcasses, tires, and sacks.

The piles of accumulating garbage create a noticeably unpleasant smell.

Ho Thi Thu Huong walks along the beach in An Vinh Village of Tinh Ky Town, Quang Ngai, which is filled with garbage on May 26, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Linh

“As it is now the rainy season, more garbage has followed high tides and strong waves to the beach than normal.”

“If there is a storm, garbage would go all the way to our house,” said Ho Thi Thu Huong, 77.

She said that the beach is so “polluted” that villagers could not even organize weddings or parties at home but have to do so at a common house of the village that is far from the beach.

Early last year, local authorities had sent an environment company over to clean up the beach but later, garbage simply made a comeback.

Nguyen Xi, deputy chairman of Tinh Ky Commune, said a majority of the garbage along the beach comes from other places because 95 percent of commune trash is collected.

“The commune has cleaned up the beach several times but the situation needs a long-term solution,” he said.

Also Thursday, garbage covered Bai Truoc (Front Beach) on Quang Trung Street in Vung Tau Town of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province that borders Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Huu Hung, 50, a local, said trash has kept piling up on the beach in the past 10 days, mostly including plastic bags, bottles and foam boxes.

Some beach goers have had to move far away from the beach to avoid the trash.

Beach goers and sanitation workers on Bai Truoc Beach of Vung Tau, May 26, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Truong Ha

Sanitation workers said they clean up the beach every day from five to eight in the morning, but as long as the tide comes in, garbage would return.

Nguyen Xuan Hau, deputy director of Vung Tau Environment Services and Urban Project JSC, said heavy downpours at the start of the rainy season have caused more garbage to flow from rivers to the sea.

“The company is currently collecting three-four tons of garbage each day from the beach,” he said.