VietNamNet
Bridge – At the heart of HCM City, in
Ward 15 of District 8, Ma Lang Hill is home to dozens of people who earn money
by cleaning used hessian bags.
From
morning to evening, these people toil away cleaning bags and other containers
used to store concrete, sand and construction materials. By the time their
daily work of cleaning, rinsing and drying the bags is done, they are covered
from head to toe in dust - all for a meagre payment.
Many
people living in this area have done this job for the past 40 years. According
to Pham Thi Hai, a middle-aged local resident who has made a living cleaning
for more than 20 years, out of nearly 100 residents at Ma Lang Hill about 75
earn a living by cleaning bags.
Dang
Van Luan, another local resident, said the local bag cleaning sector provided a
great deal of employment, and the job was useful in ensuring work for former
prison inmates and people dealing with problems such as gambling, drugs and
petty crime.
"A
diligent worker can earn VND150,000-200,000 a day," said Luan. "I am
happy with that."
This
type of work also helps many local families to make ends meet, as most of the
residents are poor.
However,
a serious price they all have to pay is the toll the work takes on their
health. Because of excessive exposure to dust and dirt, most residents have
chronic coughs and respiratory diseases.
People
who have worked as bag cleaners for many years all suffer from asthma,
pneumonia and some even have tuberculosis.
"Facial
masks are not much help as they cannot prevent dust from penetrating our
bodies," said Thong, a resident of Ma Lang Hill and friend of Luan.
Tran
Van Hen, an elderly man who had worked as a bag cleaner during his youth, said
he had difficulty breathing and sometimes coughed up blood.
Hen was
diagnosed with pneumonia, but he didn't have the money for treatment at a
hospital and had to rely on home remedies.
Many
women in the area were also said to have given birth to children with
deformities, which many blame on breathing in too much of the harmful dust.
But
being exposed to too much dust isn't the only concern of local residents. Many
are also worried about the future of their jobs, as local authorities
considering new regulations that would limit this type of hazardous work.
Without
the job, bag cleaners would lose an important source of income to feed their
families, and a solution for these poor workers is yet to be found by local
authorities.
Truong
Hong Son, chairman of the People's Committee of Ward 15 in District 8, said
cleaning bags had become a traditional job in the area that offered employment
for many residents during the past years.
However,
the work was seriously polluting the environment and also threatening the lives
of local residents, said Son.
Although
local authorities are yet to draft a plan to relocate bag cleaners to a more
suitable location, a new site is difficult to find.
VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News
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