According to Hung, Nam Phong Food Processing Factory in Binh Thanh District providing half of the city’s demand on cattle meat and An Nhon Poultry Slaughter Centre in Go Vap District which produces two-thirds of the city’s daily poultry products have caused serious noise and environmental pollution.

He said that the two enterprises’ waste water treatment systems did not meet actual demand although their daily capacity had been increased from 200cu.m to 400cu.m each.

"They don’t want to invest in building proper systems but have just temporarily upgraded to cope with the situation even though they’ve been urged to move out," he said, "The longer they stay, the more people will suffer."

Nguyen Van Truc, general director of the Sai Gon Agriculture Corporation (SARGI), to which the two enterprises belong, explained that administrative formalities and a shortage of capital were major problems for the delayed removal of the enterprises.

It took at least five years to complete the formalities of a project and another couple of years for its implementation, he said.

"The initial solution for the Nam Phong Factory is to halve the daily capacity of 1,000 pigs, set up appropriate slaughter transportation times, and co-ordinate with sanitation companies to collect the factory’s solid waste daily instead of weekly as previously," said Truc.

As re-scheduled by SARGI, the factory will be moved to Cu Chi District’s Tan Thach Tay Commune in 2012 once the construction of a 12-ha factory with a capacity to slaughter 2,000 pigs a day and an investment capital of VND200 billion (US$11 million) is completed.

Truc said that a project to build a new slaughter house to replace An Nhon Centre was under development.

Director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Van Phuoc said SARGI were required to build proper waste treatment systems and implement sanitation measures for its enterprises while waiting for removal.

"Otherwise, they would be forced to shut down," he said.