Environmental Disputes: Lack of Sanctions and Remedies

According to the Industrial Policy and Strategy Institute (IPSI) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, environmental disputes in Vietnam are characteristically happening on a large scale and causing enormous damage to many people, but the authorities are not adopting drastic remedies to environmental issues while considering them the matter of order and security.

 

According to a survey performed by IPSI in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Thai Nguyen, Hung Yen and Da Nang, environmental pollution in industrial zones is mainly discovered by people who do not assess pollution with such indexes as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) but use their physical senses to identify what is harmful to their health.

 

In Ho Chi Minh City, 96 percent of residents report that odour pollution is at a very alarming rate. In Tay Ninh province, smog from electrolytic zinc plant yellows leaves. In Hung Yen province, river water has turned black and smelly. In Da Nang, 56.63 percent of residents said they have been affected by odour pollution from fishery industrial zones. Although the public has repeatedly complained and reflected, their complaints are still deemed only one-dimensional.

 

Mr Le Minh Duc, an IPSI expert, said the people also do not have information about pollution where they are living. For example, in Hung Yen province, residents were unaware of two-time water sampling performed by the District Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Even when they are asked, they have no idea about the regional environment. Not until the public raises pressure do competent agencies start examinations and admit pollution. Competent agencies tend to rely on local governments to settle these disputes, usually by giving a symbolic compensation or converting the money into a so-called environmental improvement support fund.

"It seems that governments at grassroots levels are unaware of their responsibilities in resolving environmental disputes, as they mainly resolve such cases with the purpose of stabilising social order. Hence, the people have hostile reactions, e.g. filing leapfrog suits or encircling and threatening environment-polluting enterprises," Mr Duong Dinh Giam, Director of IPSI, stressed.

 

Previously, the Law on Environmental Protection 1993 lacked specific provisions on the settlement of environmental disputes. Thus, the mechanism for environment dispute settlement has not been clearly formulated and courts do not really participate in environmental dispute resolution. But because of real happenings, dispute settlements have been applied in some localities. Currently, the Law on Environmental Protection 2005 also specifies regulations on the assessment of damage caused by environmental dysfunction and utility reduction. Accordingly, the “base of damage assessment is the official document filed to claim compensation to damages, information, data, evidence and other grounds relating to compensation and damage-causing objects."

This provision is seen as a positive support for the implementation of claim rights for compensations to damages caused by environmental pollution. However, Vietnam currently uses administrative mechanisms to resolve environmental disputes. Meanwhile, according to the administrative regime, the commune level is not entitled to handle disputes, while the district government has the right to keep silent to petitions without being passed by the commune government. Upset people without expert knowledge and legal support become even more upset and tend to gather to make their complaints more weighted and place pressures on environment-polluting enterprises. They also believe suing at the highest level is the best. In general, we still lack capacity in determining pollution-caused damages.

 

According to IPSI expert, to limit environmental disputes, it is necessary to set up a province-level committee in charge of handling environmental issues to receive complaints relating to the environment, mediating disputes and determining compensation for damage caused by pollution. “However, in the long run, to completely resolve environmental disputes, we need specialised courts,” said Mr Le Minh Duc, an expert of IPSI.