VietNamNet Bridge – The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta has huge economic potential but failure to protect its environment from pollution could result in severe consequences, an expert has warned.

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The delta has 197 IPs and industrial complexes that discharge a combined 47.2 million cubic meters of wastewater and 220,000 tonnes of solid waste a year.

It has averaged 10.4 per cent growth in the last five years, much higher than the national figure of 7-8 per cent.

But the pollution in the region has dramatically increased in the last year as scores of companies in industrial parks (IPs) and thousands of households discharge waste directly into rivers and canals, said Bui Van Quyen, head of the Southern Department of Science and Technology.

The rapid development of industrial parks and aquaculture without proper zoning plans and improper use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are worsening the pollution, he added.

Since the delta is low-lying, it is very easy for pollutants to spread with the flow of water, he pointed out, adding protecting its environment would be harder than elsewhere.

Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, chairman of the Viet Nam Association for Nature and Environmental Protection, said the challenge now is to harmonise economic development with environmental protection.

If Viet Nam cannot, it cannot integrate into the world, he warned.

Nguyen Huu Nguyen of the HCM City Institute of Social Research said if the pollution continues to worsen, it would drag down economic growth because other countries would stop buying Vietnamese goods or at least tighten quality control since the goods are produced amid pollution.

The polluted environment would also lower the quality of life for people in the delta, he said.

The delta has 197 IPs and industrial complexes that discharge a combined 47.2 million cubic meters of wastewater and 220,000 tonnes of solid waste a year, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Households generate 600,000 tonnes of solid waste and 102 million cu.m of wastewater annually.

(Source: Viet Nam News)