State-owned Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Co., Ltd (Citenco) said it would have all of its 2,000 employees taking turns to work day and night during the peak period from January 22 to 29 to make sure streets and canals are free of garbage.

The domestic waste generated daily now is around 13,000 tons, almost 50 percent higher than normal, the company said.

"During the peak days from January 22-29 the sanitation workers will have to work three to five times harder than normal," its director Cao Van Tuan estimated.

"We have to make sure all city streets are completely clean on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year."

Part of the garbage collected will be taken to the two biggest transfer stations in the city on Tong Van Tran Street in District 11 and Quang Trung Street in Go Vap District, which are expected to receive up to 4,000 tons daily.

Citenco said it would set up air quality meter at these stations to keep track of the odor. If the stench is too bad, it would use bioproducts to reduce it.

Forty workers have been assigned to pick up trash along the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal which passes through the five districts of Tan Binh, Phu Nhuan, Binh Thanh, 1, and 3, and the Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal that runs through 6, 11, Tan Binh, and Tan Phu. 

There will be a seven-day holiday for Tet starting next Thursday. Citenco has spent VND2.1 billion ($90,459) on Tet gifts for the workers.