Environmental protection laws are repeatedly violated. Luong Minh Thao, deputy head of the Environmental Crime Prevention Department, said that the law needed to be beefed up.

Do firms break environmental protection laws with impunity?

Firms used to discharge harmful and poisonous substances into the environment because they were not being supervised closely enough. However, that is not the case now. State management offices, such as the natural resources and environment agency and the environmental police, have recently stepped up inspections. As a result, more environmental pollution cases have been uncovered.

It is undeniable that many companies intentionally damage the environment by discharging untreated waste to maximise profits. In general, however, awareness about the need to protect the environment has improved. Many companies have built waste treatment facilities on their own.

Why have there been so few prosecutions?

In the last five years, the environmental police have uncovered about 20,000 violations. Up to 5,000-6,000 violation cases are typically uncovered each year. However, few of these firms have been prosecuted. Action has only been taken when wildlife has been killed and forests destroyed.

There is a chapter in the Criminal Law regulating environmental crimes and specific punishment for each crime. Is that not the case?

That is true. The law has specific regulations covering environmental crime, ranging from water pollution to solid waste dumping and the spread of potentially dangerous diseases to animals and plants. The law stipulates a maximum prison term of 10 years.

But the law is ambiguous in terms of what pollution actually is.

And it is impossible to determine the extent of the pollution of say a river.

Are firms compelled to make environmental impact reports?

Decree 117/2009/ND-CP regulates that a company which does not make an environmental assessment report will be fined by between VND200 million (US$9,500) and VND300 million ($14,300). In reality, the law is hard to implement because there is no regulation forcing these firms to hand their reports to environmental inspectors.

Dautu/VNS