LookAtVietnam – About 100 delegates from 19 southern provinces gathered on Tuesday in southern Vung Tau city to review the State’s management of resources and the environment from 2006 through 2009.

Workers collect waste from the seaside in Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province. A goal has been set to control water pollution and rehabilitate exhausted rivers by 2011.

“Additionally, the environmental pollution and exploitation of natural resources are emerging as hot topics,” MoNRE Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen said in his opening speech.

He said that the meeting would help officials update laws and policies, and improve inspection and staff training.

According to a report released by the ministry, in the last three years, progress has been made in State management.

For example, most southern provinces had finished 80 per cent of the necessary work.

“From the database that has been made available, southern provinces have met development demands for urbanisation and industrialisation,” said Nguyen Thanh Minh, head of the ministry’s Natural Resources Department.

However, Minh pointed out that the boom in industrial parks and residential areas in every province had adversely affected the environment.

Pollution would increase if strong actions were not taken, he said.

Air and water pollution was rising because of factories, dirty vehicles and waste from hospitals and residential areas, leading to the decline of biodiversity and affecting the health of residents.

As planned, the area for industrial parks would double in 2010 from 15,000ha in 2003, and reach 50,000ha in 2020.

At the conference, a master plan for sea and islands, which could play an important role for the economy as well as national security, was discussed.

The ministry also announced its development plan for 2010 through 2014.

In land management, the ministry planned to carry out a land fund programme to serve public demand. It would readjust the market and support resettlement.

Next year, a major land investigation would be carried out nationwide to help the Government and local authorities review the land-use plan.

For water management, the ministry had set a goal to manage all water exploitation works by 2011, as well as fines. It would also work to control water pollution and recover exhausted rivers.

The ministry will closely co-operate with environmental police to discover, stop and fine all activities that cause pollution. Educational activities to increase awareness about environmental protection will also be increased.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News