The Tay Ninh-based Dau Tieng Reservoir may
not be able to provide clean water in future years if factories in the province
continue to discharge their untreated waste water.

The
reservoir provides water for the agricultural irrigation system, household use
and industrial production in Tay Ninh as well as neighbouring Binh Duong and
Binh Phuoc provinces.

Vu Duc
Hung, director of Dau Tieng Irrigation Exploitation Company, said there were
several rubber and cassava processing companies operating near the reservoir
that discharge untreated waste water into the lake.

Pig
farms near the lake and on islets located in the lake also cause serious
pollution to the water and environment.

Hung
said the company had asked authorities in Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc to impose
severe sanctions on companies that discharge untreated waste water.

He said
the province had sent investigators to the site and acknowledged that companies
were polluting the water.

The
authorities, however, had not taken action, Hung said, adding that his company
did not have the right to hand down penalties to polluting companies and pig
farms.

For
years, pollution has been a problem in the reservoir.

In 2005,
more than 1,200 fish cages belonging to around 200 families polluted the
reservoir’s water. The local government asked that all fish cages be dismounted
from the lake.

The
pollution can affect the health of people in Tay Ninh, Long An and Binh Duong
provinces as well as HCM City, all of which use water pumped from the lake.

If Binh
Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces do not take action, more factories will continue
to cause pollution to the Dau Tieng Reservoir.

Water
plants in HCM City and others in Tay Ninh and Binh Duong provinces that pump
water from the reservoir will be seriously affected.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News