Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Phuong from the central province of Quang Binh said Minister Ha gave a number of feasible measures to deal with climate change, including encouraging the involvement of capable businesses in coping with environment-related problems.

The straightforward and succinct reply of the MoNRE leader saved time of the NA and showed his good management capacity, he added.

Sharing Phuong’s opinion, deputy Cao Dinh Thuong from Phu Tho province said that the renovation of the Q&A session helped improve the quality of answers of participating ministers. He said he hopes Minister Ha will strictly implement his commitments to NA deputies with specific solutions.

Meanwhile, representative of the central city of Da Nang Nguyen Ba Son held that the MoNRE Minister’s answers only covered macro-scale issues without clarifying specific problems. He cited the case of the closing of two steel plants in Da Nang due to environmental pollution, stressing that more specific regulations should be applied to prevent such violations.

Truong Binh Trong, a voter from Ward 8 of Tuy Hoa city, the south central province of Phu Yen said that new and more effective method of the Q&A session, in which both questions and answers are given in a quick and clear manner, helped enhance the quality of the session as more issues are brought into discussion.

Regarding the land-related issue, lawyer Tran Duc Phuong from Ho Chi Minh City said that the legal system on the management of land and public property has been basically complete, but many State agencies have failed to strictly implement the regulations and supervise information release.

Phuong underscored that the handling of specific organisations and individuals committing violations in granting investment and construction licences has yet to be strict.

He proposed that along with more efficient measures to examine and inspect violations and stricter punishment measures, it is necessary to publicize public land management, investment projects and planning in a  transparent manner.

At the same time, many voters lauded Minister Ha’s efforts in coping with environmental pollution.

Voter Nguyen Dac Tan from the south central province of Phu Yen said that answers of Minister Ha opened up new orientations for settling many problems.

Prof. Dr. Le Huy Ba from Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry said that Minister Ha’s idea of mobilising the community’s investment in dyke construction project has yet to consider the specific conditions of the Mekong Delta region where alluvium is necessary for land enrichment.

Mentioning air pollution, Associate Prof. Dr. Ho Quoc Bang from the Institute for Environmental and Natural Resources under the National University of Ho Chi Minh City said that Minister Ha thoroughly understood the real situation of air pollution and gave adequate solutions.

But he also stressed the need for stronger control of motorbike exhaust emission, the reduction of private vehicles as well as the encouragement of using of public transport means.

Voter Pham Van Bach, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Khanh Thanh commune, Yen Khanh district of the northern province of Ninh Binh showed his worry about environmental pollution in industrial parks, trade villages and a number of production facilities.

He suggested that the Government and the MoNRE should make clearer evaluation of results of underway environmental pollution settlement projects, while encouraging trade villages and production facilities to apply advance technology to reduce pollution. He also proposed a change in economic planning and livelihoods of locals in some trade villages that harm the environment. 

Minister admits problems in waste treatment, delayed projects

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha continued to answer questions raised by National Assembly (NA) deputies on June 5 morning, focusing on waste treatment and management of land in delayed projects.

Regarding his ministry’s role in waste treatment management, he said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) is responsible for giving advice to serve the issuance of strategies and plans, building technical standards, and conducting inspection and examination. While the Ministry of Construction has the responsibility of managing infrastructure and approving the design of waste treatment factories, the Ministry of Science and Technology is in charge of treatment technology.

The MoNRE alone is unable to manage the whole waste treatment issue, but it needs coordination, and some problems must be assigned to local authorities to deal with, he said.

Meanwhile, many modern waste treatment technologies imported from other countries have failed to meet relevant requirements in Vietnam. Some Vietnamese technologies are being piloted, and none of them have satisfied operation, technical and environmental standards.

This problem has been reported to the Prime Minister, and the three ministries will work closely together to have suitable technologies as soon as possible, he noted.

He admitted the fact that many waste treatment plants were invested with big funding but failed to be operated, leading to wastefulness of social resources.

At the question & answer session, part of the ongoing fifth session of the 14th-tenure parliament, deputy Duong Minh Anh of Hanoi pointed out to the prolonged delay or poor implementation of many projects on the land seized from local residents, which has become a public concern. Additionally, the land of some projects has been encroached, making it hard for local authorities in managing land and settling prolonged disputes.

Minister Ha said delayed projects had appeared before the 2013 Land Law took effect, attributing the problem to investors’ poor capacity and a lack of penalties for violations. Although the law clearly stipulated penalties and mechanisms to bind investors, delayed projects haven’t been addressed thoroughly because of overlapping legal regulations.

According to the 2013 Land Law, projects that are 24 months behind schedule will be revoked. However, the Law on Investment regulates projects will be cancelled if they are 12 months behind schedule.

It is necessary to solve this gap between the two laws, he added.

On the other hand, the Land Law allows projects to be revoked but doesn’t request investors to make compensation, which is also a problem. In fact, the land of many projects was mortgaged to seek bank loans, so there will be problems when revoking these suspended projects.

Relevant regulations should be amended so that banks could auction the mortgaged land to recover assets for the State, Ha said.

VNA