Vietnam is facing numerous environmental pollution challenges because of waste, wastewater and industrial gas emissions, according to the national environment report 2010 released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on June 10, 2011. Approximately 70 percent of over 1 million cubic metres of untreated wastewater from industrial parks discharged directly into sources of water is polluting the environment. Up to 57 percent of operational industrial parks do not have centralised wastewater treatment systems.
The reality
This report says the degree of industrialisation has seriously affected habitats. Thus, we need urgent positive measures to mitigate the impact and intensify pollution control to protect the achievements of industrial development and Vietnamese socioeconomic development in general.
Pollution in industrial zones not only affects downstream areas, but also spreads to upstream areas. Observed results in the three river basins of Dong Nai, Nhue - Day and Cau showed that apart from household sewage, wastewater from industrial parks degrades the quality of river water quickly. Many indicators are far above the proscribed limits.
As of December 2010, Vietnam had some 255 industrial zones established under governmental decisions, of which 171 were in operation, with 50 percent of rentable areas leased. Industrial parks drive growth, domestic and foreign investment, export expansion, job creation, and income increase for labourers.
However, apart from their positive contributions, large amounts of waste (gas, wastewater and solid waste) from industrial zones are generated. Industrial wastes, whether solid, liquid or gas, contain significant amounts of environment-polluting substances or compounds potentially causing adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Many industrial parks do not observe environmental protection laws. Inspection results reported by the Vietnam Environment Administration in 2010 showed that environmental law violations in industrial parks happen frequently, but punishments were quite slow. Instances of untreated or improperly treated waste from industrial zones discharged directly into the environment have increased.
Weaknesses from the root to the top
In addition, industrial park planning is not properly carried out. Regulations on environmental protection are not strong enough. This reality leads to frequent recidivism of environmental protection laws. Legal regulations on environmental protection in industrial parks are too vague to be applied. Particularly, provisions concerning environmental protect responsibilities of infrastructure developers, industrial park management boards, and State management agencies remain undefined.
Inspection and examination in environmental inspection failed to keep pace with the management requirements and development scale of industrial parks. Cooperation and information sharing regarding environmental protection between local environment management entities remains weak. Coordination between industrial park management agencies and local environmental management agencies are lax, inconsistent and ineffective.
Dealing with that reality, to address existing problems and build national action plans on environmental pollution control in industrial zones towards 2020, the Vietnam Environment Administration (NEA) collaborated with the Vietnam Provincial Environmental Governance Project (VPEG) to organise a conference reviewing current environmental management on December 10, 2011.
Mr Le Ke Son, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Environment Administration, hoped this unit would be able to complete explanations on “Developing National Action Plan” for pollution control in industrial parks towards 2020 after the conference to submit to competent agencies for implementation in 2012 as expected.
Do Ngoc
Vietnamese
