The conferenceentitled "Environmental protection in thermal power projects and marine use planning in the current context" took place at the National Assembly Office in the afternoon of June 20..
Minister Tran Hong Ha spoke at the conference.
The conference was organized by MONRE and People's RepresentativeNewspaper to promote information sharing and dialogue between state management agencies and National Assembly deputies on issues related to natural resources and environment, whichattracts special attention and concerns of voters and people all over the country.
At the workshop, the General Director of Vietnam Environment Administration Nguyen Van Tai presented a seminal report on environmental protection in Vietnam coal-fired power plants.
Recently, the Vietnam Environment Administration - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has inspected the observance of the law on environmental protection in the thermal power projects and plants. According to the survey, there still exist many shortcomings and violations in the thermal power plantsin terms of environmental protection, namely incidents and potential to cause environmental pollution in the factories... Regarding these issues, MONRE has been coordinating with ministries, sectors and localities to seek thoroughresolution ...
Adding further information, Minister Tran Hong Ha affirmed: "All environmental issues and criteria for environmental protection in thermal power plants must be at the forefront. If there is the risk of environmental damageany activity of thermal power plants, we insist onclosely monitoring the progress and quality of the environment before construction as a basis to evaluate whetherthisprojects or plant has negative impacts on the environment or not".
In addition, Minister Tran Hong Ha added that in the forthcoming time, the Government will consider the selection of modern technologies to ensure investment efficiency and environmental friendliness and will consider recycling and reusing the waste from thermal power plants to make building materials. As for the activities of other projects, the minister said that MONRE and Ministry of Industry and Trade will take a closest look at technology and environmental protection issues before consulting the Government on project investment
Pham Ngoc Son - Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Administration of Sea and Islands said that the sea and coastal areas has significant meaning in the cause of national construction and defense. The sea is of a particular nature with interconnected space and sharedmarine resources. The quality of the marine environment is strongly influenced by the exploitation and use of marine resources, especially in coastal areas. The sea must be spatially planned. Ocean use planning is one of the most important tools for navigating and organizing space for the use of Vietnamese waters.
Marine-use planning will also guide and coordinate the exploitation and use of marine resources in order to contribute to preserving the integrity of the ecosystem's function and structure, maintaining and improving its productivity. Ecosystems, thereby ensuring that marine and island resources are managed, exploited and utilized effectively, the marine and island environments are protected while harmonizing the interests of stakeholders in the exploitation, use of natural resources and environmental protection of the sea and islands ...
Viet Hung.