A section of the To Lich River in Hanoi. Sewage in the To Lich River needs to be collected, as part of efforts to clean the river - PHOTO: VNA

The Japan Environment and Business Organization (JEBO) on December 7 rejected Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung’s statement that JEBO and Japan-Vietnam Environmental Improvement Company (JVE) had cleaned a section of the To Lich River in the city without asking for the city’s permission.

At a meeting with residents in Hoan Kiem District on December 6, Chung answered many questions about the city’s environment, including the clean-up of the To Lich River, the local media reported.

The municipal chairman said with 180,000 cubic meters of wastewater released into the To Lich River in Hanoi per day, no technology can help tackle pollution in the river without a system that first collects this sewage, hinting at JEBO's incapacity to treat pollution there with the suggested solution.

The Hanoi government highly appreciated JEBO’s proposal to clean the To Lich River using the nano-bioreactor technology. However, the organization has not complied with the city’s requirements during the clean-up process, Chung added.

The city has asked JEBO and JVE to follow regulations on environment of Hanoi and Vietnam as a whole.

Also, the city has required JEBO to provide documents about nanotechnology and JEBO’s capabilities, a list of projects that JEBO has executed, a list of projects using nanotechnology in Japan and in other countries, and certificates of the Japanese Government or the competent agencies on JEBO’s use of the technology.

The city has also assigned the municipal Department of Construction to recommend a lake in the city for JEBO to pilot the nano-bioreactor technology. The results of the pilot will be assessed by local and foreign scientists and experts.

In response, JEBO said on its press release that what the Hanoi chairman had said was inaccurate and it had sufficient documents to prove that the city had allowed JEBO to pilot the clean-up of the To Lich River, using the nano-bioreactor technology.

According to JEBO, it had a meeting with the municipal government on April 26 on JEBO’s and JVE’s proposal to fund the clean-up of a To Lich River section and a corner of Ho Tay.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the municipal Departments of Construction, Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources-Environment and Science-Technology, the municipal government office, the management board of the water supply and drainage and environment project, and Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Co., Ltd.

At the meeting, Hanoi Vice Chairman Nguyen The Hung said the city allowed JEBO and JVE to clean a To Lich River section and a corner of Ho Tay.

JEBO also published an announcement by the Hanoi government on its permission.

The To Lich River runs 14 kilometers, starting from Cau Giay District’s Nghia Do Ward and ending in Thanh Tri District’s Huu Hoa Ward.

Many plans to combat pollution in the To Lich River have been worked out over the past decade, though not put into use.SGT

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