VietNamNet Bridge - The National Assembly (NA) deputies’ rejection of the proposal on allowing businesses to import old ships for demolishment in Vietnam indicates they see bad intentions behind the proposal.

 

 

As expected, nearly all NA’s Deputies have asked to remove the 47-50 articles from the maritime draft law.

“NA’s deputies were clearheaded. They can anticipate the fatal risks associated with the activities of demolishing old ships,” said Nguyen Ngoc Phuong, a deputy from Quang Binh province.

Phuong said under the Basel Convention, old ships which are carried across the border lines for demolishment are considered ‘waste’. As such, the export of such ships from OECD countries to developing countries is prohibited.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment in May 2002 sent a dispatch to the Prime Minister, reporting the real situation of the old ship imports and proposing that this not be allowed. 

The Prime Minister then asked to cease the demolishment of old ships for foreign partners and the demolishment of import ships for scrap materials.

However, later, old hulls once again appeared on the list of the used products allowed to be imported to Vietnam released by the Ministry of Natural Resources. 

According to Phuong, this shows the shortcomings of policy makers who could not check all legal documents. As a result, something can be prohibited by one ministry but allowed by another ministry.

More surprisingly, though the government prohibited the demolishment of import ships for scrap materials, the master plan on the development of Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry by 2020 still mentions ship demolishment.  The master plan says only five establishments can ravage ships.

Nguyen Tan Tuan from Khanh Hoa questioned why the law compilers still put the issue into discussion though it was known to everyone that ship demolishment would bring terrible consequences. 

Phuong commented that though NA’s deputies don’t have evidence to prove that the articles 47-50 of the draft maritime law show the ‘groups of interest’. 

However, they doubt the ‘groups of interest’ really exist. Demolishing old ships is an industry which can bring ‘super profits’ and therefore, attract anyone.

“No one speaks up, but they might see through the bad intentions, so they asked to remove the draft articles from the draft law,” he said.

An analyst, applauding the NA deputies’ decision, said that old ship demolishment is not a lucrative business.

“If the industry really can bring such attractive profits, the other countries would not leave the opportunity for Vietnam,” he said.

Dat Viet