The municipal administration plans to
shut down petrol stations that fail to meet safety standards and other criteria
set by the HCM City authority.

The city
authority has asked relevant agencies to check on the operation of all petrol
stations and report the results to the city People’s Committee during the first
quarter of next year.

Under a
decision by the HCM City People’s Committee, 61 petrol stations were asked to
close in 2006 because they failed to meet the standards.

But
those stations, including 54 that did not have a construction licence, have
continued to operate without any licences since 2006. Most of them are located
in outlying districts.

Nguyen
Thi Hong, vice chairwoman of the city People’s Committee, has asked concerned
agencies to conduct an investigation and report to the city soon.

Under
the same decision in 2006, an additional 108 petrol stations were found to lack
some safety and planning requirements, but were allowed to operate for no more
than three more years, from 2007 to 2010. Of the 108 stations, 52 lacked
construction licenses.

The city
authority will allow the petrol stations to resume operations if they can meet
all standards set by the city government.

HCM City
has nearly 500 petrol stations, according to the city’s Department of Industry
and Trade.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News