VietNamNet Bridge - Many foreign-invested projects in textile, paper, dying, steel and other polluting industries have been licensed recently, raising concerns that Vietnam would become a ‘pollution paradise’.  

The workshops and amenities of Mei Sheng Textiles Vietnam, a Chinese invested enterprise in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, have been sealed off seven times since 2010 because the company was discovered discharging waste water illegally.

The company built a dying workshop with capacity of 1,100 tons a year and discharged untreated waste water to the Da Den Lake which provides clean water to 90 percent of people in the province. 

On June 30, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) and the provincial authorities released a decision on forcing the company to shut down the workshop.

Some days ago, people from Kinh Mon district of Hai Duong province, sent a petition to appropriate agencies, complaining that the environment has been seriously polluted because of waste water from two Chinese invested companies in the locality –Tan Nguyen Metallurgy and Tan Dong Alumina. 

Many foreign-invested projects in textile, paper, dying, steel and other polluting industries have been licensed recently, raising concerns that Vietnam would become a ‘pollution paradise’.

Dust, smoke and emissions have been poisoning the locals’ lives.

Most recently, the discovery about waste water discharged illegally from Formosa Ha Tinh, which caused the mass fish deaths in the central region, have caused a public uproar. 

An expert commented that when licensing projects in industry, Vietnam has opened its door for pollution because local authorities are not capable enough to supervise the projects. 

Meanwhile, with legal loopholes, investors can easily dodge the laws and deceive state management agencies.

According to Dinh Duc Truong from the Hanoi Economics University, many investors ignore the waste water treatment process because this allows them to save VND80 million a day.

However, it seems that local authorities continue to grant licenses to new projects in ‘sensitive’ production fields.

At least $3.5 billion worth of foreign direct investment in textile & garment projects was registered in 2015. In the first six months of 2016, Vietnam licensed 83 projects in the field, including 50 textile projects. Chinese alone registered three. 

Most Chinese technologies are believed to be outdated which may cause serious pollution.

Experts have asked local authorities to become choosier when granting licenses to foreign investors.

Nguyen Hanh Phuc, the National Assembly’s secretary general, said the Formosa Ha Tinh case must be seen as ‘expensive lesson’.

“Vietnam must not develop its economy at any cost,” he siad in an interview with VTC.

Tien Phong