Residents of Tan Nhut Commune, which is located next to the Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park, spoke to city legislators Friday about the problems they face because of pollution

Ho Chi Minh City authorities are apparently at a loss on how to handle an environmental catastrophe caused by industrial park pollution in Binh Chanh District.

To the considerable chagrin of residents beleaguered by a host of problems including dying flora and fauna and a host of pollution-induced sicknesses, no drastic measures seemed to be on the anvil to address the highly serious pollution problems.

The residents’ grievance is that since the [Le Minh Xuan] IP was built in 1997 in Binh Chanh District, the canal water has blackened, killing off tons of fish. They allege the contamination had been caused by wastewater discharged by companies in the park.

Despite the fact that residents and the media have cried foul for years, their complaints have fallen on deaf ears as no action has taken against the polluting companies.

Droves of disaffected residents came to meet with the task force Friday and emphasized the litany of suffering they have endured.

“If we raise fish, fish would die. If we breed ducks, ducks would die. Even chili plants would suffer the same fate,” said Nguyen Duc who is living in Le Minh Xuan Commune near the IP.

“Now paddy crops have also started to wither. I am planning to breed cows, but fear they would suffer as well,” Duc said.

“If you put yourselves in our shoes, how would you feel?” Duc asked.

“Cases of diseases relating to eyes and the respiratory system of the elderly in the commune have recorded a significant increase. So who will breathe responsibility in compensating us?” Nguyen Van Tien, a resident of Tan Nhut Commune, wanted to know.

No official from the task force answered Tien.

When the Thanh Nien correspondent and other journalists accompanying the fact-finding mission requested leaders from the HCMC’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment to announce the planned action against the pollution as well as support for affected residents, no one bothered to respond.

“Many inspection teams have taken turns to arrive at the [polluted] sites but we have seen no let-up (in the pollution),” said Nguyen Thanh Dong of Tan Nhut Commune.

“After I reported to authorities about dead ants and bees in my garden, they collected samples for examination,” Dong said.

“But the story has stopped there.”

Nguyen Minh Hoang, Chief of the Economy and Budget Board under the People’s Council, was the only official of the task force to instruct agencies concerned to work out solutions to the pollution problems caused by the IP.

He promised that the municipal legislature, at its year-end session, would issue a resolution on pollution measures in the city, including at the Le Minh Xuan IP.

Action pending against other polluters

Meanwhile, administrative and regulatory hurdles have delayed the implementation of punitive measures in prominent pollution cases that have come to light recently.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) has insisted that the operation of Taiwanese MSG-maker Vedan Vietnam, caught discharging around 105,600 cubic meters of untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River every month for many years, be suspended.

Last week, authorities in southern Dong Nai Province, where Vedan Vietnam is based, said they could not suspend operations of the MSG-maker as directed by the ministry because it would be illegal for them to do so.

Provincial authorities had, in a communication sent to the MNRE, quoted clause 4 of article 3 of the Decree on Administrative Penalties that rules an administrative violation can only be punished once.

But in a note issued early this week, MNRE said the decision to suspend Vedan Vietnam for polluting the local river is not an “additional punitive measure” as the provincial People’s Committee understood. Instead, it is a measure aimed to repair the damage caused by the company.

The central government would work with Dong Nai authorities to work out proper procedures to suspend Vedan Vietnam, Le Viet Hung, Dong Nai’s Director of Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said.

In their latest move, Vedan Vietnam Friday asked MNRE to reconsider the fine of VND127.2 billion (US$7.7 million) worth of environment protection fees the firm had evaded since 1994.

Meanwhile, Ngo Anh Tuan, Deputy Chief of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) said HEPZA has not been able to revoke the investment license of the Hao Duong leather company which was caught in mid-October releasing untreated carcinogenic effluents into the Dong Dien River in Ho Chi Minh City’s Nha Be District.

The city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment had proposed that the firm’s license be revoked.

Tuan attributed the delay to several current regulations, but did not elaborate.

Source: TN, Agencies