Head of Government Office Mai Tiến Dũng asked
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to quickly decide and
announce the disciplinary measures against responsible individuals and
organisations in the Formosa environmental incident earlier this year. He made
these claims at a meeting between the Prime Minister’s task force and the
ministry to review the latter’s implementation of Government-assigned tasks
relating to the spill. According to the minister, also head of the task force,
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has requested MoNRE to examine and assess the
responsibility of oganisations and individuals involved in permitting the
Taiwanese-owned Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Hà Tĩnh Steel Company to discharge
wastewater, those involved in the discharge itself and those responsible for
approving the environmental impact assessment report of the Formosa project. In
the recent working session of the 14th National Assembly (NA), environmental
minister Trần Hồng Hà promised alongside members of both the NA and Government
to impose punishment on responsible organisations and persons and make the
information public. “Not keeping the promise is unacceptable," he said. “I
request that the minister report the progress of the job. Keeping it waiting
too long to be done will adversely affect the Government’s command on the
issue,” Minister Dũng said. In response, Minister Hà said the ministry had
carried out the job right after the incident occurred. He added that the
ministry is co-operating with the Party Central Committee’s Inspection
Commission to define violations and will impose disciplinary measures based on
the conclusion of the inspection team. “We are urging to speed up the process.
After receiving the Politburo’s opinions on collective and personal responsibilities,
we will give further consideration,” Hà said. Minister Dũng also urged MoNRE to
accelerate the project of building a sea water monitoring and warning system
along the central coast. In addition, he asked the ministry to focus on
compensating for damages of organisations and individuals and fishery-related
issues. MoNRE Deputy Minister Nguyễn Thị Phương Hoa said the ministry has
established an expert team and co-operated with international experts to carry
out the project. However, it takes time, because the project is carried out in
many provinces and requires careful checks and considerations to ensure the
ability of localities to implement, manage and maintain the project after
completion, she said. The ministry also had to reduce the scale of investment,
as it failed to mobilise enough capital for the project as its initial goals,
she said. As for the inspection of waste discharge from enterprises, Minister
Hà said the ministry had checked 336 enterprises which have more than 500 cum
of waste discharge. “If we strictly adhere to the law, 90 per cent of
enterprises fail to completely meet regulations. In fact, we are still unable
to control wastewater, waste air and solid waste, especially at industrial
complex and traditional trade villages,” he said. The ministry is compiling a
report to the Government on this issue to have an overview on the current
environmental situation.
Viet
Nam News p3 – December 22
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