The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Police Department will carry our surprise inspections of all factories operating in high-pollution industries. These included chemical, textile, dye, food processing, cement and others.
Large plants that discharged over 100 cu.m. of waste water a day would be inspected first, it said. The action follows a report from the city People’s Council’s Economic and Budget Section, which warned against the worsening environmental pollution. It said many rivers and canals in the city were heavily polluted, with canals like Thay Cai and An Ha in Cu Chi District, Ba Bup and Tran Quang Co in Hoc Mon District turning black and fetid. All of Binh Chanh district’s 55 canals, rivers and ditches were polluted, it said.
The report attributed the pollution to the discharge of effluent by factories in industrial parks and export processing zones, especially Tan Phu Trung, Le Minh Xuan and Vinh Loc industrial zones.
An environmental report by the municipal People’s Committee last year also highlighted the fact that pollution was caused by many sources, including hazardous waste from factories in industrial parks and elsewhere, and that the water quality in canals and ditches had deteriorated alarmingly.
The department said the inspections would also take in 141 polluting plants that had not been relocated under a city programme.
Factories found polluting the environment would not only face the maximum penalty but also be suspended, it said.
If enterprises found flouting environmental norms in the past continued to do so, the department said their power or water supply could be cut off or they could be closed down until they repair the damage.
