VietNamNet Bridge – Binh Duong has spent over VND60 billion acquiring surveillance cameras to install at 26 industrial parks and 26 large-scale industrial manufacturing companies in the province to monitor wastewater treatment activities.

Vo Thi Ngoc Hanh, deputy director of the Binh Duong Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the province had installed 21 cameras and wastewater sample collection systems. The other 31 spy cameras will be installed by early 2013, Hanh told the Daily at a ceremony to honor 47 enterprises for their environmental protection work.

If the observatory systems find discharged wastewater exceeding the permitted level, the environment department will ask the provincial government to impose sanctions, she said.

There are currently around 5,000 industrial manufacturing firms in Binh Duong, most of which are located at the 26 industrial parks across the province, producing some 125,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

Environment is now a pressing issue in Binh Duong, because many manufacturers do not completely treat their industrial waste, said the provincial vice chairman Tran Van Nam.

To encourage enterprises in environmental protection, Binh Duong’s government on Thursday awarded “green book” certificates to 47 companies in the province, including 30 foreign-invested enterprises and 10 domestic firms. The province last year granted such certificates to 32 enterprises.

However, Binh Duong last month publicized a black list comprising 27 environment-polluting producers, said the provincial environment department.

In related news, Binh Duong Environmental Protection Sub-department plans to hold a meeting with the governments of Binh Duong and HCMC this Saturday to look for solutions for pollution on Ba Bo Canal and industrial wastewater control along the Saigon River basin.

A senior source from the sub-department said some industrial parks in Binh Duong such as Dong An 1, Song Than 1 and Song Than 2 had been found discharging improperly treated wastewater into the environment, with an amount dumped into Ba Bo Canal.

VietNamNet/SGT