As the (도두) Dodu Sewage Plant has almost reached capacity, the province has come up with plans to expand the equipment to additionally deal with 40,000 tons. Critics say that’s good, but not good enough. Mike Laidman reports.


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Dodu Sewage Plant

The daily capacity of the Dodu Sewage Plant is 130,000 tons.

About 120,000 tons of sewage released from eastern Jeju City are treated here everyday.

The plant is regularly operating at 90 percent of its capacity due to the influx of new people.

Complaints about the stench from residents in the area are near constant, and at times, sewage has even leaked.

The province has now come up with a sewage treatment modernization plan to deal with the problems.

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Modernization plan: \95.6b, + 40,000 tons by 2020

Jeju plans to spend 95.6 billion won on expanding the sewage treatment plant to handle an additional 40,000 tons of sewage. It will also move the plant below ground to prevent the sewage from releasing odors.

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Construction: August 2018 to December 2020

A design for the facility is expected to be released in April of next year. The province will then select a contractor and construction should begin in October. The project is scheduled to be completed in December, 2020.

INTERVIEW
Kim Tae-jong / Provincial sewage facilities manager
Construction will be completed in 2020, and the new facility will be able to handle the amount of sewage produced until 2025. National funding has been secured for the project.
< 김태종 / 道상하수도본부 하수시설과장 >
2020년까지 완공해서 2025년까지 하수 처리에 대비하고자 합니다. 연차적으로 국비가 지원되고 있기 때문에 국비가 확보된 상태입니다.

However, the province doesn’t have specific plans for the years after 2020.

As of now, only the big picture has been explained: to bring the current facility that deals with 130,000 tons of sewage below ground and to add a facility that can treat an additional 40,000 tons of sewage.

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\300b required, no plans for funding

The price tag for all of this is 300 billion won, but the province hasn’t determined whether or not it will bring public or private funds into the picture by 2035.

This vagueness from the administration has residents in (도두동) Dodu-dong in an uproar, and they’re looking to take action against the unreliable administration.

INTERVIEW
Kim Dae-chul / Representative, Dodu 1-dong
No plans, no blueprint, no design. There’s only a design to treat the additional sewage. It seems unrealistic to modernize the whole facility by 2025.
< 김대출 / 도두1동 마을회장 >
아무런 계획도, 청사진도, 설계도 없는 상황입니다. 단지 4만톤 증설에 대한 설계가 있고 재정비만 확보해 있는데 어떻게 2025년까지 현대화한다는 말입니까.

Critics say the province should make better plans for the long term project and take efforts to persuade residents that the project is a good idea.

INTERVIEW
Ha Min-cheol / Provincial councilor
The additional facility for 40,000 tons is needed, of course. But I believe that it’s time for the province to also come up with plans to relocate the sewage plant underground.
< 하민철 / 제주도의회 환경도시위원장 >
민간투자냐 재정투입이냐를 고민하고 있는데 4만톤 증설도 중요하겠지만 지하화에 대해 총체적으로 고민해야 할 시기에 와 있다고 생각합니다.

[Reporter] Mike Laidman
[Camera] Kim Yong-min

Doubts about how the administration is handling the situation have kept growing as the sewage treatment plant rapidly approaches capacity.

Mike Laidman, KCTV