Farmers work on a rice field in the outskirts of Hanoi. (AFP PHOTO)

While the Agriculture Minister took responsibility for a forecasting blunder, the Environment Minister said he was not sure if pollution caused by companies could be stopped in the future.

“I am personally responsible for the false forecast. I shoulder the responsibility in front of the National Assembly (NA) and the government about the problem, and would bear any penalty under the law,” the minister said as he took the floor to answer questions by delegates at the parliamentary session Tuesday.

His ministry had forecast a winter-spring crop output of 750,000 tons, which led to the government’s deciding to stop signing new rice export contracts in April for fear a bad crop would affect domestic rice supply. As it turned out, farmers harvested a bumper rice crop, and lost out on the opportunity to make major profits at a time world rice prices had increased four times over the average prices in 2007.

The prices have fallen to US$450-500 per ton from US$945 per ton in May.

The ministry has “strictly learnt from the experiences, and established special agencies to strengthen forecast of production and output of farm products,” Phat said.

To reduce farmers’ losses, the government has taken measures to

boost purchasing power and limit the fall in prices, he said, adding that the government has asked two cooking corporations to buy a total of 1.1 million tons of rice, and required commercial banks help rice traders with enough capital for purchasing them.

Up to 80 percent of Vietnam’s rice output is domestically consumed, and the rest is exported, Phat said.

Phat was also slammed by the deputies for inefficient management as chair of the Central Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention during the historic flooding that hit the capital city and other areas in late October.

The floods killed at least 22 people in Hanoi and 60 others in northern and central localities.

But Phat denied that the committee had bungled the flood situation, saying authorities concerned had been caught off-guard by the floods when they first hit the capital city.

But Nguyen Minh Thuyet, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Culture, Education, and Youth and Children said action should be taken against those found responsible for inadequate responses to the flooding.

“I am not sure”

Many deputies Tuesday centered their queries on the Vedan Vietnam pollution scandal as Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen took the floor.

In early September, Vedan Vietnam was charged with dumping around 105.6 million liters of untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River per month.

On October 6, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) issued two decisions to suspend the firm’s license to discharge wastewater and fine the company VND267.5 million (US$16,700). The Ministry also demanded arrears in environmental fees of VND127 billion ($7.7 million).

But so far the ministry and the provincial government have yet to work out the way to suspend the firm’s operations.

Speaking at the NA session Tuesday, Minister Nguyen denied the ministry and the Dong Nai provincial administration had passed the buck toeach other in this matter. He cited Article 49 of the Environment Protection Law saying the ministry could only impose a fine on Vedan.

But Nguyen’s explanation was dismissed by Le Thi Nga, Deputy Chairman of the NA’s Judicial Committee who retorted that Article 49 indeed allows the minister and the Dong Nai mayor to temporarily suspend the operations of Vedan.

Grilled about specific responsibilities of either central or local authorities in the Vedan case, Nguyen just said the ministry had “drawn experiences” from the case.

Asked whether the ministry would ensure no company would pollute the environment in the future, Nguyen said: “I’m not sure.”

Nguyen also said at the hearing the serious environmental pollution was the legacy of Vietnamese history.

Before the country’s industrialization and modernization in the 80s, 80 percent of its production establishments had outdated technology, causing pollution, the minister said, adding that some 4,000 production establishments and 1,450 craft villages were responsible for it.

Prices, taxes and budgets

Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh also answered representatives’ questions Tuesday, mainly on managing prices and the tax mechanism in the context of high inflation and state budget spending.

The ministry has flexibly managed its tax policy to reduce inflation, he said, adding that it had cut import tax on animal feed earlier this year to increase supply and support the local husbandry sector, which was hit by animal diseases.

Now that the situation is stabilized, the ministry has increased the tax, he said.

Regarding the state budget deficit, the minister explained that the country’s capital demand for infrastructure construction is high, while budget revenue raising has not increased.

The country has kept the deficit under five percent of the state budget to ensure sustainable development, he noted, adding that if the investment was effective, overspending would not increase inflation.

Reported by Bao Van