The number of violations of
environmental law increased by 43 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009, according
to the Ministry of Public Security.

The
Environmental Crime Prevention and Fighting Police Department said there were
more than 6,500 violations of the Environmental Law nationwide, and 88 of them
resulted in lawsuits.

The
number of violations involving discharged untreated wastewater and hazardous gas
accounted for 22 per cent.

Police
said that many factories were still using an underground pipe network to
discharge untreated wastewater into river and canals.

Only 20
per cent of hospitals nationwide have standard waste treatment systems.

Many
hospitals had not been treating their wastes according to regulations on medical
waste treatment.

Rubbish
treatment dumps, especially in city outskirts, are faced with an overload of
rubbish and outdated technology.

Importing industrial waste from other countries has also complicated matters.

In Hai
Phong alone, authorities have discovered hundreds of containers of imported
garbage, including radioactive materials.

Collection and transport, as well as illegal treatment of hazardous waste, such
as old lead batteries, waste sludge and waste from metal ore, have occurred in
some localities.

Nineteen
per cent of the violations were related to illegal exploitation of natural
resources and mines, including bauxite exploitation in Tay Nguyen (Central
Highlands).

The
total fines were more than VND52 billion (US$2.6 million), police said.

According to department leaders, violators’ methods have become more and more
sophisticated, causing difficulties in enforcement.

Penalties for violations of the environmental law in some localities have been
inconsistent and not strict.

The
regulations on violations in the law are unclear and vague, leaving loopholes
that violators exploit, they said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News