General director of Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company Vo Tien Hung. Photo Huong Quynh

The allegations centre around the acquisition of a cleaning agent to be used in lakes.

Major General To An Xo, chief of the office of the Ministry of Public Security, said Hung was being investigated for his involvement in the monopolistic acquisition of Redoxy-3C, a water cleaning agent, to clean up more than 100 lakes in Hanoi.

Earlier the city People’s Committee dispatched a team to conduct a thorough inspection on the acquisition of the agent and assess its efficiency.

According to the inspection outcome in March, Arktic Company is the only unit to distribute the agent in Vietnam. The agent manufacturing company is Watch Water GmbH based in Germany.

The arrest of and investigation into Hung is an extension of an investigation, which began in April into State asset mismanagement, causing losses and wastefulness, at the Hanoi City government and other relevant agencies.

This is one of the three cases in which the Ministry of Public Security is determining Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung’s alleged involvement. The prime minister temporarily suspended Chung from his post for 90 days on August 11.

After having permission from Chung to use the agent at the city’s lakes, the Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company bought 3.24 tonnes of Redoxy-3C from Arktic Company in August 2016.

The Hanoi investigators launched a probe into the purchase, management and use of the product in late May last year and discovered that the company bought over 400 tons of Redoxy-3C from the German firm at a price of VND137.6 billion. Some 380 tons were used to treat water pollution.

The drainage company reported that using Redoxy-3C was a simple and quick way to clean up lakes, helping save costs. This method could be applied in all lakes in the capital city.

The local authorities and residents proposed that the city continue using the product to clean up the lakes due to its effectiveness, according to the municipal investigators. 

They also concluded that there was nothing unusual in the purchase of Redoxy-3C.

Further investigations are being conducted. 

Doan Bong

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