Urenco environmental workers and the dream of… holidays

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“By the end of the afternoon of September 5, 2023, the environmental sanitation work for the 78th Anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2 and the Opening Ceremony of the new school year had been completed according to the Plan; the quality of environmental sanitation was guaranteed; no environmental incidents or unsafe labor and hygiene situations occurred. The areas where important events took place were absolutely maintained in terms of environmental quality and on-duty time; entertainment and event areas regularly had on-duty forces, increased human resources, increased equipment and support means such as sweepers, street washers, boats, trash scoops on the lake... Along with quality assurance is a bonus regime for all officers and workers of the entire Company to encourage spirit, improve labor quality, service quality"...
Mr. Nguyen Huu Tien - General Director of Hanoi Urban Environment Company Limited (Urenco)

What holiday?

During the conversation at the garbage collection point, instead of answering my question, "Did you take the time to go out with your family during the holidays?", Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan - a worker at Dong Da Branch, surprisingly asked back, "What holidays?", which made me stunned for a moment because I thought he was not interested in current events. While chatting with him, I learned that on these occasions, people who work in environmental sanitation like you only have to increase their staff and work overtime, but do not take holidays.

Although I have had many opportunities to learn about the work of Hanoi Urban Environment Company Limited (Urenco), each time we talk, something else comes up, like the recent holiday. In my mind, Urenco only mobilizes its maximum workforce to serve during Tet, and for holidays, only a certain number of staff are on duty so that other staff and workers can take time off. However, it turns out that Tet and holidays are no different, especially on important holidays and long holidays, when the number of people flocking to the center and entertainment areas increases dramatically, the environmental sanitation work in Hanoi not only has to be maintained 24/7 but the intensity of workers' work also has to increase a lot to deal with the amount of garbage generated compared to normal days. Therefore, for people like Mr. Tuan, the concept of holidays or on duty sounds quite strange. He said: "Just work all the time, why do you have to be on duty?"

06.9-urenco.jpg — URENCO workers work on holidays

While chatting with me, Mr. Tuan inserted a board to raise the trash can to increase its capacity. Seeing me looking intently, Mr. Nguyen Quang Nhiem - who works in the same team and on the same shift as Mr. Tuan explained: "On holidays like this, the amount of trash increases a lot, so we have to raise the trash can to contain the trash, to avoid the trash falling out during the collection or transportation process."

Mr. Nhiem has been working in this profession for nearly 15 years. In recent years, the management department has flexibly arranged his work for the 3rd shift (from 4 pm to dawn the next day). Compared to other shifts, the 3rd shift is considered the hardest because this is the time when garbage is collected during the day. At the same time, all entertainment activities are also concentrated in the afternoon and evening, so the amount of garbage generated is greater. However, because he is young and can handle the heavy and tiring work, and on the other hand, his children are still young, he accepts the afternoon to night shift so that he can come home during the day to help his wife with housework and take his children to school.

Also often working the afternoon shift through the night like Mr. Tuan and Mr. Nhiem, Ms. Ninh Thi Loan - the Environment Team around Hoan Kiem Lake (under Hoan Kiem Branch) has a different reason. According to the management department of Hoan Kiem Branch, the area Ms. Loan is in charge of is the walking street area, all activities are concentrated in the afternoon, evening, until midnight. As the Team Leader in an important area, during peak hours, she focuses on dealing with garbage in the area around the lake, at other times, even though it is not her shift, she still regularly manages the common work, especially during holidays. Because she is so busy, she calculates everything, from company work to housework, she quickly and accurately carries out her work with one hand broom and one hand pushing the bin, but accurately down to every detail, and when her shift is over, she turns to housework, her phone is always on so that if needed, she can come immediately to handle the work.

Ms. Ninh Thi Loan - Head of the Hoan Kiem Lake Environment Team (Hoan Kiem Branch) - is appreciated by her colleagues for her sense of responsibility and quality of work.

Sharing our concerns, Ms. Nguyen Huyen Tram, who is in the same group as Ms. Loan, said: “I have been working since August 30th until now, which is almost a week today. It is like this on all holidays. I have been working for a long time, like me for 25 years, so now I don't want to be transferred to another job. Luckily, my husband and his family are sympathetic, so I can work with peace of mind. Besides, here, the Board of Directors of the Company, the Board of Directors of the Branch, and the office staff don't get any time off. We all work hard together.”

Ms. Nguyen Huyen Tram took the opportunity to classify garbage.

Just hope people throw trash… on the street

Walking along the streets or going to garbage collection points in Hanoi in recent days, especially in areas where entertainment events and large crowds take place, we can understand the hardships of environmental workers. At Luong Dinh Cua Street, although not a key area, by 4 pm the collection bins were already full of garbage, and workers had to use extra large bags that were still not enough to hold it. Ms. Bui Thi Thu Huong - a worker in Group 4, Dong Da Branch said: "My colleagues and I have been working tirelessly for the past few days, but we don't understand where all that garbage comes from. When we go to sweep one place, the garbage grows again in another place. It's easy to pick up garbage on the roadside, but scattered garbage at the base of trees can only be picked up by hand, how can we sweep it?"

A garbage bag "bigger than a person" on Luong Dinh Cua street

At the garbage collection point at the intersection of Kim Hoa and Xa Dan streets, the garbage bins are all in a state of expansion. Mr. Nhiem said that the amount of garbage during the holidays increased by one and a half times compared to normal days, so they had to increase the number of collection trips. He said that these days, it is okay to collect a few more trips on the streets he is in charge of or to increase the number of collection points, as long as people put their garbage neatly in bags and gather it at a corner. But not everyone does that, in many places the garbage is thrown into corners, and if it cannot be dug out, it will be slow to be collected elsewhere...

Garbage thrown around the tree, spilling out onto the street

A tree on Dinh Tien Hoang Street is "decorated" with plastic cups and disposable straws.

Littering at the foot of stone benches, tree roots, next to flower beds or ornamental plants, at the foot of fences, along the lake... these are the many types of littering that we recorded in the walking street area during the recent holidays. There are a lot of plastic cups, disposable plastic straws, some are thrown in the trash, many are thrown away conveniently. Among them, the worst is thrown into the lake and mixed with flower beds, ornamental plants or tree roots. Many environmental workers have to reach in to pick up the trash, leave the trash in the open space before being able to use a broom to sweep it up. Many cups of water have not been finished, the water mixed with ice is thrown out everywhere, causing difficulties for the cleaners, sometimes even annoying people if they accidentally touch it, at that time, the unsympathetic look is "looked" at the environmental workers, not at the people who use the cups and throw them around...

“If you can’t throw it in the bin, you’d better throw it on the sidewalk for us to sweep. Throwing it in dangerous places like this is a waste of time. Every day, the team has to arrange boats and workers to go to the lake to collect trash. On the evening of September 2, it was packed with people, and there was a lot of trash thrown, all kinds of trash. There were only a few dozen square meters in front of Ly Thai To Monument, but it took me a long time to clean it up,” Loan shared.

If we didn’t “see” the garbage scene with our own eyes, we would think that our “hearing” was not accurate. Once we saw it, we would really feel sorry for the people who clean the environment. In about an hour, just wandering around Thuy Ta area, Shark restaurant and a few restaurants and shops nearby, we could not finish dozens of bins. However, that was nothing compared to the night of September 2, when the garbage in the walking street around Hoan Kiem Lake filled 50 bins of all kinds, plus 50 large plastic bags were generated, but there was still a lack of garbage containers. Many workers only came home at 3 or 4 am, some were so busy working that they didn’t have time to eat, and only had to rush to grab a bowl of rice at 4 am… The peak areas like that temporarily calmed down, but on the evening of September 4, the workforce continued to move to the schools to serve the Opening Ceremony of the new school year.

Every job has its hardships, its joys and sorrows, but the hardships of Urenco people really make us feel sorry and think. What is so difficult about putting trash in the right place that many people cannot do? Why does one person put trash in the right place but another person does not? If only everyone knew how to ask themselves. If only each family had a little more awareness, put trash neatly, and throw trash in the right place, the situation could be improved, making it less difficult for the managers, cleaners, and collectors. Then, who knows, the staff and workers of Urenco Company would take turns taking holidays.

Street cleaning truck of Hoan Kiem Branch

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According to the Board of Directors of Hanoi Urban Environment Company Limited (Urenco), during the recent holidays, 100% of units implemented the 24/24 production management regime according to the Company's issued Plan, ensuring 24/24-hour communication, maintaining a 24/24-hour production management hotline to receive information and resolve unexpected situations. 100% of leaders of units and departments turned on their mobile phones 24/24 (not turned off) to promptly provide production management information. 100% of branches strictly implemented the reporting regime to the Production Management Center so that the Board of Directors could grasp the situation. All departments, divisions, and centers have on-duty forces to perform management work, ensure, serve, and resolve arising situations...

Below are some images recorded by PV