LookAtVietnam – National Assembly deputies yesterday, October 28, focused on protecting the environment and how Viet Nam should adapt to climate change.

A soil stabilisation forest in Song Cau District’s Xuan Thanh Commune in central Phu Yen Province. Efficiency of a national programme to plant 5 million hectares of forests was one of the matters dealt with by NA deputies at yesterday session.

Deputy Vi Trong Le of northern Phu Tho Province said that forests with a total area of 4.6 million hectares had been entrusted to 700 State-owned forest farms. However, most of these forests were being misused or cut down indiscriminately.

This was partly blamed on a lack of workers in forested areas, which were too large for them to manage.

The local people were described by deputies as being ignorant of State policies and struggling on low incomes. When contracted by State farms to grow trees and take care of the forests, many chopped trees down to make quick and illegal profits.

Le said it was necessary for the Government to inspect the use of forest land to prevent massive deforestation. He added that punishments at present were negligible.

To try and solve the problem, the deputy suggested local authorities should be entrusted with the protection of forests and reforestation.

Deputies also wondered if a national programme to plant 5 million hectares of forests would be effective.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said that the programme would protect existing forests by widening plantation areas.

Deputies said they were also worried about the massive establishment of small-scale hydro-electricity projects with a capacity of under 30 megawatts in northern and central provinces.

They blamed them for the cutting down of thousands of hectares of forests and negatively affecting the flow of streams, reservoirs and river levels.

The Minister of Industry and Trade, Vu Huy Hoang, told the assembly that the ministry and agencies would examine offending hydro-electricity projects and change regulations to protect the environment.

Deputy Huynh Van Tiep from Can Tho City in the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta said environmental pollution was rampant in urban and industrial areas, which often lacked waste-treatment systems. He said untreated waste water was discharged into rivers because the polluters knew that punishment levels were low.

Tiep said that laws for environmental protection should be amended to match the seriousness of the offence.

Deputy Hoang Van Toan from northern Vinh Phuc Province said the lack of well-qualified environmental-protection officers was a main contributor to environmental destruction.

Other deputies expressed concern about the effects of uncontrolled mining and sand exploitation.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Pham Khoi Nguyen, said the ministry would revoke the exploration licences of the owners of mines if they violated environment laws.

Deputies also agreed that people’s lives were also being affected by climate change as a result of environmental pollution.

They said climate change had led to more floods, rising water levels and other natural disasters. The Government should help people prepare for or cope with these disasters.

Deputy Trinh Thi Nga from central Phu Yen Province said the Government should allocate capital for coastal provinces to buy boats and equipment to rescue victims as flooding grew worse.

She said there should also be projects to build and improve dykes and sea walls along the coastline.

Deputy Nguyen Van Phuc from central Binh Thuan Province said that no methods for combating and preventing natural disasters had ever been mentioned in socio-economic development plans - or money set aside.

Phuc said Typhoon Ketsana, which struck central Viet Nam last month, caused losses of VND14 trillion (US$786 million) which must have affected the economic stimulus package.

He said combating and preventing natural disasters should be included among sustainable socio-economic development tasks. If this was not done, Viet Nam would have to spend a lot of money each time a disaster hit.

So far, the Government had spared only VND18 billion ($1 million) for climate-change adaption. But, so far there were no shelters for boats in central provinces.

Deputy Dong Huu Mao from central Thua Thien-Hue city Province said people in central region were hit by storms every year. Moving them to safe places took time and money.

Mao said the Government should help people build houses designed to withstand floods and storms.

State budget

NA deputies in the afternoon discussed the report on implementation of the 2009 state budget estimate as well as the 2010 State budget estimate and the central budget’s allocation plan.

Deputy Pham Thi Loan from Ha Noi said that the country had gained positive socio-economic achievements thanks to the Government’s directions, including the successful implementation of solutions to prevent the economic recession.

According to Loan, Viet Nam this year had been seriously impacted by natural disasters occurring throughout the country and the global financial crisis and economic slowdown.

Loan noted that the country’s economy had already hit rock bottom in February, and after seven continuous months of recession, it had recovered with an estimated annual economic growth rate of 5 per cent.

However, she expressed worry that this year’s over-expenditure, which was at 6.9 per cent, was much higher than last year’s.

“The fact is that economic growth is still not high, although huge capital sources have already been provided,” said Loan. “This leads to an increase in the incremental capital output ratio.”

“To loosen fiscal and monetary policies at the same time will increase the risk of possible inflation in the future,” she added.

Regarding the central budget’s allocation plan for 2010, NA deputies agreed that the allocation of the central budget estimate should be based on the Law on State Budget and the NA’s Resolution.

The allocation must also ensure the close combination of fiscal and monetary policies, take into account growth promotion factors and inflation awareness and help reduce the State Budget’s over-expenditures, the session heard.

Deputy Tran Tien Long from northern Bac Kan Province suggested that the Government focus on salary reform policy in the context of limited sources of revenue.

He added that the Government should pay attention to ensuring expenditures for social welfare and security and national target programmes, as well as increasing investment capital for leading economic zones in order to create new sustainable sources of revenue.

Urgent projects

Deputy Ngo Van Minh from central Quang Nam Province agreed with deputy Long, stressing that the Government should give priority to providing capital for key and urgent projects, agricultural restructuring and speeding up the progress of projects in poor localities.

Regarding the State budget balance for 2010, the Government figured that a total revenue of VND456.4 trillion (US$25.35 billion) would be seen, an increase of 16.8 per cent compared with this year’s estimation.

According to deputy Do Thi Lan from northern Quang Ninh Province, not only would the world economy recover next year, but the domestic economy would grow stronger as well, which could increase the State budget revenue. Therefore, she recommended that the Government build a more positive plan for the budget revenue in 2010.

Ha Noi deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh suggested that the 2010 State budget estimate be created in appropriation with the economic stimulus policies, which would concentrate on economic reform and lead the economy toward in-depth and sustainable development.

Southern Tay Ninh Province deputy Nguyen Dinh Xuan, northern Dien Bien Province deputy Mua A Son and southern An Giang Province deputy Tran Hung Viet petitioned the Government to end policies on tax exemptions and reductions.

They also suggested a quarter-long extension for small- and medium-sized enterprises, manufacturing enterprises of textiles and garments and leather and footwear in paying enterprise income taxes.

The deputies said that the Government should implement medium- and long-term policies on interest assistance instead of short-term ones, which should be accessed only by farmers wishing to improve agricultural production facilities.

Regarding other economic stimulus policies, deputy Pham Duc Chau from central Quang Tri Province and deputy Mai Thi Anh Tuyet from An Giang Province said that the Government had not tapped initial opportunities to restructure the economy.

They assumed that the Government’s stimulus package had been implemented in many areas but faced slow disbursement problems and had been difficult for people in the countryside and small- and medium-sized enterprises to access.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News