HCM City conference looks at ways to protect the environment

The aim of the conference was to review the city’s current environmental situation after 15 years of industrialisation and modernization and find better measures to manage environmental issues, said Pham Phuong Thao, chairwoman of the city’s People’s Council.

Delegates reported that the city was suffering from serious water and air pollution due to the discharge of untreated waste water from several firms at HCM City-based industrial parks.

Truong Trong Nghia, director of HCM City Trade Promotion Center, reported that while the city has achieved a high growth rate in recent years, it has also led to negative impacts on the city’s environment.

Nghia also noted that environmental management agencies have not fulfilled their duty, even though a large amount of the State budget has been spent towards environmental protection efforts.

The scale of polluted areas as well as the concentration of pollution in the city is alarming, Nghia added.

Delegate Nguyen Van Khoa stressed that the law on environmental protection provides the details to define violating firms but environmental management agencies have not determined the penalties.

Currently, pollution is on the decline in urban areas, while in districts on the outskirts of the city, it is increasing.

For example, Thay Cai and An Hacanals in Cu Chi District and the Ba Bup and Tran Quang Co canals in Hoc Mon District are full of discolored and foul smelling water.

Nguyen Minh Hoang, head of the Economy and Budget Committee under the People’s Council proposed that the city re-examine the environmental impact reports of the 13 golf courses projects in the city.

Several delegates suggested that the council establish a committee or hire an independent organisa-tion to evaluate the status of pollution within six months.

Based on the results, the city will co-ordinate with relevant agencies to issue solutions to improve and protect the environment.

The committee proposed that the People’s Committee clarify the responsibilities and authority of the management board of city-based industrial parks and export processing zones with regards to inspecting and penalising polluting firms.

Enterprises should be required to strictly follow environmental regulations when signing leases on land for their production activities, and the contract should be canceled upon violation of these regulations, the committee added.

Those enterprises that have not had waste water treatment systems must quickly install and connect to the general waste water treatment systems of industrial parks by December of this year.