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.

The job of cleaning up used hessian bags has offered employment to many residents of Ma Lang Hill in District 8, HCM City, but seriously polluted the environment there. — VNS Photo Doan Xa

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.