Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)Ba Ria-Vung Tau (VNA) – The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has urged for closer coordination in environmental protection and management at local industrial parks (IPs).
The request was made by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Tuan Quoc to the province’s IP management board, departments, and related authorities while he chaired a meeting on September 25 to discuss the rules of cooperation between them to manage environmental issues at the IPs.
Quoc asked for tighter control in licensing projects, preventing the approval of those posing serious risk to the environment, as well as intensifying the inspection and supervision of waste disposal factories at the IPs to promptly settle violations.
According the IP management board, the province has 15 IPs, 11 of which are operational with a combined total of 353 projects. All 11 of these IPs have a waste treatment plant with an average daily flow of 42,000 cu.m. Among them, 10 have developed automated wastewater monitoring systems – of which, six have transmitted data collected from the system to the province for review, while the five others are in the process of purchasing equipment for data transmission.
The board also reported on several challenges to environmental management in the province. For example, Phu My 1 IP is located near several residential areas, and the high density of steel mills in a single IP has negatively affected the living environment of local people. Meanwhile, there is a lack of guidelines for formulating and verifying reports of environmental assessment for high-risk projects.
It is necessary to have rules for cooperation between the management board and related authorities on environmental protection and general management. As such, the management board will serve as a contact point between various authorities, including the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the police, and local people’s committees.
The rules must also stipulate how to coordinate the evaluation and approval of reports of environmental impact assessment, plans for environmental protection, and others. –VNA
VNA
