Eight years after the Prime Minister’s
decision to deal with 439 ‘black spots’ that have seriously polluted the
environment, 101 of these spots are yet to be cleaned up, said Deputy Prime
Minister Hoang Trung Hai on Saturday.

Making
the comments at a video conference he chaired, Hai said the PM’s decision
released in 2003 aimed to either remove or set up proper waste treatment for
these ‘black spots’, which include manufacturing sites, rubbish dumps, hospitals
and chemical storage facilities, by 2007.

The

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment reports that to
date, only 338 of the sites have been cleaned up or installed proper pollution
treatment systems.

“We are
way behind schedule,” said Hai. “There are six provinces where these pollution
black spots continue to pose problems, so we need to do a critical
self-assessment and rapidly find a solution to speed up the work.”

Deputy
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen said a lack of
Government’s funding and the economic downturn had created difficulties in
removing these sources of pollution.

Tuyen
said limited access to pollution treatment

technology also made it difficult for site owners to properly
treat waste. The shortage included a lack of treatment systems for toxic
chemicals and waste treatment systems for manufacturing villages and rubber
factories.

Ha Noi
People’s Committee’s deputy chairman Vu Hong Khanh said the city had cleaned up
and ensured proper treatment facilities at 24 out of 25 sites that were on the
list. City authorities had also released a list of sites that posed a high risk
of seriously polluting the environment. The city pledged to help these
enterprises relocate to non-residential areas or set up proper pollution
treatments by providing favourable conditions related to relocated land or help
with treatment

technology.

Speaking
at the conference, Quang Ninh People’s Committee leaders said the province was
short of funds to set up pollution treatment systems at coal mining sites. They
requested the Government to provide more subsidies for the coal sector to help
limit pollution.

In
addition to the 439 pollution hot spots, nearly 4,000 other sites across the
country are seriously polluting the environment. The Government aims to deal
with these sites by the end of next year.

Deputy
Minister of Finance Pham Sy Danh said that to make the

target feasible, the media should step up its role in the issue.
Danh said that when the media reported on pollution cases, ministries and local
authorities should ensure proper investigations and respond in a timely manner.

“Only
then, the media can have an efficient role in preventing pollution due to
illegal discharge of waste,” said Danh.

Deputy
PM Hai said media agencies should increase the amount of coverage they give to
issues related to environmental protection in a bid to increase awareness among
enterprises and the general public.

Hai said
the

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should provide
more training to Government officials to bolster

the State’s management capacity on environmental issues, with
training focused on staff at local levels.

“Environmental officials should be able to access manufacturing sites and even
industrial zones in districts under their jurisdiction,” he said.

“Then
they can investigate the environment protection activities of those companies.”

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News