Industrial activities that pollute the Dong Nai River system will no longer be accepted, speakers at a meeting of the Environmental Protection Commission for Dong Nai River Basin said on Wednesday.
The new commission held its first meeting in the southern coastal city of Vung Tau last Wednesday to complete detailed action plans on preventing pollution in the region, which comprises 12 southern provinces as well as HCM City.
The Dong Nai river system has a significant effect on millions of residents in the southern region. Rapid economic growth in recent years has led to serious environmental consequences on the river system.
"Water quality has been affected by a population increase and the rise in growth in industry and mineral exploitation," the Minister of the Natural Resources and Environment, Pham Khoi Nguyen, said at the meeting. The new Environmental Protection Commission would play an important role in protecting the river system, he added.
Action plan
Under the commission’s action plan for next year, all factories must reduce their pollution by using modern, green technology. The use of chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers will be tightly controlled.
To improve water quality, 80 per cent of high-tech parks, industrial and processing zones, as well as 40 per cent of new residential and urban areas, must install water treatment systems.
More than 90 per cent of household and industrial solid waste, all hospital waste, and 70 per cent of hazardous waste will be collected and partly treated.
The action plan calls for the protection of the upstream forest and its sustainable development.
It addresses the need to prevent erosion and cope with the most polluted areas of the river system.
As part of the action plan, an observation system and database on the natural resources and environment of the Dong Nai River delta will be set up to share information and co-ordinate activities between relevant provinces.
The plan also hopes to increase forest coverage to 50 per cent of the natural land acreage and receive close co-operation of residents and local authorities to protect the environment.
To reach its goals, the commission will soon complete a financial system to deploy a detailed action plan, finish a master plan for environmental protection of the basin until 2015, offer regulations for protecting the environment and provide solutions to cope with polluting producers.
"The commission would also have responsibility to research, study and use international experiences to improve water management for the river basin and attract capital to deploy the action plan," Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee and chairman of the commission, said.
The commission stressed the need for raising the environmental awareness of the local community, businesspeople and authorities in the basin.
The Dong Nai River system covers HCM City and the provinces Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh and Long An.