VINH PHUC — Brick kilns in the province destroy the enviroment, damage farm productivity and the health of locals. But they also employ thousands of people, providing a livelihood for a large percentage of the population which is why it’s almost impossible to stop the operation of these polluters.
There are nearly 1,000 brick kilns in the province which produce more than 550 million bricks per year. These play an important role in creating jobs for 14,000 local people.
However, according to Doctor of Physics Nguyen Van Khai these brick kilns with backward techniques and old workshops discharge volumes of CO, SO2, NO2, coal and soil dust over 4,000 times higher than the permitted levels.
Hundreds of 5-10 tonne trucks which operate all day to transport soil and bricks also contribute to worsening air pollution.
“Houses, trees and everything in the area are covered by a thick layer of charcoal dust,” said Do Duc Giang, deputy chairman of Vinh Yen City’s Thanh Tru Commune, one of the most dense brick-kiln villages.
According to Khai, even the air in people’s houses, quite far from brick kilns is also really oppressive.
Breathing this dust on a daily basis has made the local population especially susceptible to sore eyes, laryngitis and lung cancer.
“We acknowledge the environmental pollution caused by these brick kilns and their bad effects to our health. But sickness takes time to kill people; without money to buy food, we’ll die immediately,” said Phung Thi Loi in Thanh Tru Commune.
“In 2007, 13 people died in Thanh Tru Commune alone from pollution related illnesses,” said Nguyen Thi Minh, the head of Health Station in the commune.
“Many people get regular bouts of dizziness and short breath so those with serious illness take these symptoms for granted until it’s too late,” said Minh.
The authorities have banned the use of these polluting brick kilns but it’s useless; simply too difficult to enforce. “We haven’t found out any effective solutions to create jobs for people when brick kilns close,” explained Giang.
The leaders of the province have experimented with various models of changing the locals’ profession but have met with limited success.
Thanh Tru Commune can be taken as a typical example.
To clear brick kilns away completely and effectively, a co-operative to plant mushrooms was formed in the commune under the management of the commune’s authorities. However, the mushrooms didn’t adapt to the climate of the commune and the farmers lost out.
After that, they switched to making bamboo products for export but failed to secure any long-term contracts. They tried changing the production structure by breeding fish while planting rice but have yet to collect enough capital.
“Although brick kilns cause a lot of damage to the environment and health, it is really difficult to stop their operation,” said Giang.
“It would be much better if we could persuade the owners to improve the facilities and equipment of the brick kilns, and to use gas instead of coal. Forcing them to stop just won’t work,” he added.
In some districts like Binh Xuyen and Huong Canh, the owners of brick kilns gather capital to build the tall large chimneys, as well as to use gas when baking bricks so as to lessen the air pollution.
“However, this model has yet to become more widespread because we need to be supported financially to improve our facilities,” said Loi. —
