Free clean water was provided for residents in Hanoi last October as water supply to the area was found to be contaminated (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Water sources, water supply works and cleanwater production, transmission and supply processes must be strictly and continuouslymonitored to ensure clean water provided for people's daily activities is the bestand absolutely safe.
This is one of the contents of a directive issued late last month by PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on strengthening management of clean water productionand trading activities, ensuring safe and uninterrupted water supply.
In Directive 34/CT-TTg,the Prime Minister asked ministries, agencies and stakeholders to completelegal frameworks and adopt new models and new technologies to ensure sufficientclean water.
He emphasised the importance of clean water and urged ministries, agencies,organisations and individuals to improve awareness and take actions to protectwater resources and supply works.
Besides legal framework improvement, he also called for research, newinvestment models and new technologies to manage, operate and monitor waterproduction and supply.
He assigned the Ministry of Construction to develop a bill on clean watermanagement next year.
The ministry was also asked to develop a project on State water management withthe private sector offering more opportunities to invest in the water sector.
The participation of private investors in water production and supply projectsis expected to solve the monopolies of water supply in some areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was asked to supervise cleanwater supply in rural areas and the safety of dams and reservoirs.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was told to review theimplementation of Decree 43/2015/ND-CP on establishing and managing waterresource protection corridors.
The environment ministry was told to work with other ministries and agencies totighten inspections to find and punish those that harm resources that are usedto produce clean water.
Water resource data will be collected and shared among ministries and agenciesand information on water quality will also be shared to clean water productionand supply companies.
According to the International Water Resources Associations, Vietnam is now inthe group of countries that face a shortage of water with low average domesticwater amount per head – only 3,840 cu.m per person per year while the globalrate is 4,000 cu.m per person per year.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment estimates Vietnam’s averagedomestic water amount will halve by 2025.
Statistics from the environment ministry and health ministry show about 9,000people in Vietnam die yearly because of poor hygiene and water resources andabout 200,000 people have cancer relating to water pollution.
According to a study by the World Health Organisation, lack of clean water andan unhygienic environment caused 44 percent of Vietnamese children to get worminfections and 27 percent of children under five years old to suffer frommalnutrition.
About 21 percent of the country’s population uses arsenic-contaminated water.
Due to these figures, the WHO rated Vietnam as a country with alarming waterresource security, especially in rural areas.
Population pressure, poor public awareness on the importance of using cleanwater, insufficient policies for water resource security as well as ineffectivecooperation among agencies in managing and monitoring the water quality areblamed for the situation./.
VNA
