Poverty remains the issue of top concern for Vietnamese citizens in 2016 but more and more are worrying about environmental problems than in previous years, according to a report, known as PAPI, released on April 4.

Last year 12.53% of respondents believed the environment was the most important issue facing the country, a 10 percentage point increase from 2015, primarily due to widespread reporting of mass fish deaths in central coastal provinces in April.

Concerns about environmental problems were not localised to the central coast but have spread beyond the region, with people in many parts of the country expressing their anxiety over growing air and water pollution.

More than two thirds of citizens reported that water quality has deteriorated in the past three years and more than one third reported a decline in air quality.

In addition to the environment and poverty, which 24.53% said was their top concern, employment was also believed to be an important issue facing Vietnam.

Other issues of concern include economic growth, the East Sea dispute, corruption and roads.

PAPI is a monitoring tool that assesses citizen experiences and satisfaction with government performance in governance, public administration and public service delivery.

Findings from the 2016 report show positive trends in public service delivery, especially in public healthcare, thanks to an increase in insurance coverage from 62% of the population in 2015 to 73% in 2016.

That is the area where the greatest gain was recorded, with 35 provinces improving their scores in 2016 in comparison with 2011, which was also assisted by better childcare, quality of public hospitals and primary education.

On the other hand, the trend of declining provincial performance in corruption control in the public sector continued in 2016 with noticeable spikes in the number of citizens saying they had to provide bribes for government jobs and land use right certificates.

Specifically about 54% of respondents said bribes were needed to be employed by a government agency, up from 51% in 2015 and 46% in 2011 when the PAPI report was first launched.

But it is positive to witness a decrease in the percentage of respondents saying bribery was needed to access public healthcare at the district level.

In other dimensions that the PAPI report looked at, citizens reported significant weaknesses with political participation at the local levels and limited performance in local authorities’ accountability but a general satisfaction with application procedures for construction permits and personal documents.

On a provincial basis, the top performers were Nam Dinh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Da Nang while Yen Bai, Lang Son, Ca Mau and Tra Vinh were among the provinces on the other end of the performance spectrum.

UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Kamal Malhotra said the 2016 PAPI results painted a mixed picture.

He said there has been steady improvement in the performance of public service delivery but most provinces could do more to improve the competence and attitude of civil servants, and enhance the transparency, responsiveness and accountability of their institutions.

Nhan Dan