Vietnam has a reputation for being one of the most polluted countries in the world. Being here it doesn't really take very long for you to confirm this. While they apparently do try pretty well to handle their waste management it clearly isn't enough because there is garbage everywhere and this doesn't make a great deal of sense to me because there are bins everywhere as well. Who is so lazy that when a bin is 10 meters away that they are still going to litter? Well, a lot of people, apparently.
A recent ride around revealed an area that is quite near the popular beach areas but they are just far north enough that tourists don't often end up there so we get a look at what "real" vietnam is like.
That pink building in the back is government housing for poor people and I suspect that might be why this area is an unoffical dumping ground. I'm not blaming the poor people, I'm blaming the government and how they don't do anything about it because the poor who live there are powerless to change it.
After a while these piles of trash are burned and this contributes to our air pollution that doesn't make sense otherwise. Da Nang is not a major industrial place, there isn't much industry here that would produce air pollution, yet we are in the top 5 in the country for the air quality being poor.
This is right across the street from the beach and there is a park of sorts in those palm trees in the distance. So how do they get away with having this here? Well, the tourism industry hasn't make it up this far yet and with things like this in place, I can't imagine how it ever would. Imagine you are going to the beach holiday and there are bags of trash all over the place on your way there? not the most lovely thing now is it.
The thing about this obvious non-care for the area that should alarm some people is that if this is the level of care they have for the land, imagine how little they care for the ocean? The beach is kept clear merely because of the workers picking up the washed in garbage in the middle of the night. They have machines for this. I've seen them in operation. I don't go swimming in the sea here because of this. Ignorance is bliss!
This made the news here locally and I was surprised to see that considering that the media is very carefully controlled.
I think that perhaps the land where these council flats or "projects" - it's just free housing for low-income citizens - is very valuable and the government is creating a situation where they are going to have to move. They will cite some sort of danger and relocate them to one of the suburbs that aren't being used by anyone... then a bunch of hotels and what not will be put up here.
If this does happen it doesn't address the serious problem that this part of Vietnam has with waste management though, and that is unfortunate.