Need to fundamentally and permanently resolve voters' petitions

On the morning of November 19, during a working session broadcast live on television and radio, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on behalf of the Government, presented to the National Assembly a report on the implementation of the National Assembly's resolutions on questioning and answering questions at the 3rd, 4th and 5th sessions.

This is new content, organized for the first time to create an opportunity for National Assembly deputies to discuss with Government members the results of implementing "promises" at previous sessions, before conducting the question and answer session of the 6th Session, 13th National Assembly.

Mr. Do Van Duong, National Assembly delegate of Ho Chi Minh City, speaks. (Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA)

The Government's report mentioned three areas including agriculture and rural development; culture, sports and tourism; labor, war invalids and social affairs. The report affirmed the serious implementation of the National Assembly's Resolutions. Immediately after each session, the Government, the Prime Minister and members of the Government promptly concretized them into mechanisms, policies and organized implementation in sync with socio-economic development tasks.

However, there are many contents that require time, resources and must continue to be implemented resolutely and persistently, such as land management and use, environmental pollution; implementation of market price roadmap for essential goods and services; bad debt handling, restructuring of credit institutions; hydropower management; anti-smuggling and trade fraud; attracting investment in rural agriculture, agricultural product consumption; social housing, removing difficulties for the real estate market; hospital overload, medical ethics, food safety and hygiene; anti-corruption, handling mass complaints, traffic safety and order...

Discussing the results of the implementation of the National Assembly's resolutions on questioning and answering questions at previous sessions, National Assembly deputies said that the contents of Resolution No. 30/2012/QH13 and Resolution No. 40/2012/QH13 have basically been seriously implemented, gradually achieving important results, contributing to the completion of the goals and tasks set forth by the National Assembly.

The issues raised by delegates and voters have been initially resolved and resolved. However, delegates also said that the resolution has not been thorough and consistent; they recommended that ministries and relevant agencies continue to resolutely and regularly implement more fundamental and long-term solutions.

Many opinions in the discussion this morning mentioned the difficult living situation of people in hydropower projects, in which the Ministry of Industry and Trade has a great responsibility; policies for the poor and resettled people in hydropower areas; the development of livestock models; preferential policies for domestic agricultural processing factories...

Fundamental solutions are needed in flood and storm prevention and agricultural development.

Conveying to the National Assembly the voice of voters in the Central region, who regularly live with storms and floods, delegate Nguyen Van Phuc (Ha Tinh) earnestly said: “Right now, the people of the South Central region are suffering from floods and storms.” “Voters petition the Government and the National Assembly to have fundamental solutions to limit the loss of life and property of people in storm and flood areas.”

Believing that there should be a special mechanism for people in localities that regularly live with storms and floods, delegate Phuc proposed re-planning this area in conjunction with new rural construction; hydroelectric and irrigation systems.

Expressing his indignation at the act of releasing floodwaters without notifying the local authorities, leading to serious consequences for people and property, delegate Phuc criticized: "It is unacceptable to release floodwaters without the local authorities knowing. It must be investigated, disciplined, and even criminally prosecuted because the consequences of damage to the people are very large."

The Ha Tinh delegation delegate also recommended that the Ministry of Construction urgently implement the construction of flood shelters; build rural traffic in this area in a more solid and concrete direction.

Concluding his opinion, delegate Phuc wished: "It is recommended that drastic solutions be taken to implement."

Delegate Do Van Duong (Ho Chi Minh City) suggested that the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade should have strict regulations on the water discharge process of lakes and dams, not allowing small benefits to affect large benefits, the lives and property of the people. The delegate suggested strict handling, even criminal prosecution, to ensure that water discharge processes are strictly followed.

Bringing to the National Assembly forum the difficulties in the precarious lives of voters in hydropower projects, delegate Nguyen Thai Hoc (Phu Yen) said that this situation has a great responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in delaying the issuance of specific policies for people in hydropower areas.

“2013 is almost over but the policy for the poor and resettled people in hydropower areas has not been issued yet. The Minister of Industry and Trade also said that this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,” delegate Hoc was indignant.

Speaking at the discussion hall, economic expert and National Assembly delegate Tran Du Lich (Ho Chi Minh City) said that Vietnam's agriculture is facing great challenges and needs strong solutions to improve farmers' lives.

Reiterating an idea that had been proposed in previous sessions but had not yet been paid attention to or implemented, delegate Tran Du Lich continued to suggest: “It is necessary to immediately implement full tax incentives for domestic agricultural processing facilities to form agricultural development bases.” According to the delegate, only then can agricultural production be promoted. This is also a policy issue and it is beyond the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the delegate emphasized.

Also on agricultural issues, delegate Truong Minh Hoang (Ca Mau) was concerned that domestic agricultural scientific research facilities have not yet had breeds that truly meet the expectations of farmers.

Delegates suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development actively direct and take measures to promote the strong and effective role of research facilities, in order to bring farmers truly high-quality breeds, on par with the region.

Cat Tuong cosmetic hospital case - the pain of the entire medical industry

Participating in the discussion, answering questions about medical ethics from delegate Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam (Ho Chi Minh City) and several other delegates, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien acknowledged the responsibility of the Ministry and the industry for the incident at Cat Tuong beauty salon. According to the Minister, the issue of medical ethics, especially the Cat Tuong beauty salon incident, regardless of the direct or indirect cause, whether objective or subjective, the head of the Ministry of Health is responsible.

"The Cat Tuong case is a loss of humanity, not just medical ethics. It has caused pain to the entire medical industry. All medical staff do not believe it is true," the Minister admitted.

The Minister also emphasized that this is a wake-up call for the entire health sector to overcome difficulties and be determined to correct weaknesses and shortcomings. The Ministry is also compiling documents on professional ethics in the medical sector.

The head of the health sector also said that hotlines have been set up at all three levels, where people can call directly to report problems. "In the past period alone, we have received more than a thousand calls, 50% of people reported bad attitudes from medical staff," the Minister said.

The Minister also added that for the first time, the Ministry has organized 11 courses on ethical conduct for 6,000 officials in the industry. “We deeply feel that medical ethics is a very big issue. We hope that delegates and voters will have a more tolerant and comprehensive view, because every year, with a very large volume of medical examinations and treatments, it is inevitable that there will be complications and there will be medical staff who are ‘bad apples’,” said the Minister.

Preventing overdue construction debt

Concerned about the measures to solve the problem of overdue debts in basic construction, delegate Nguyen Thanh Tam (Tay Ninh) raised the issue of clearly identifying the cause of overdue debts in basic construction, whether it is due to lax budget discipline or not? Secondly, clarifying the responsibilities of related organizations and individuals leading to overdue debts in basic construction.

At this session, the National Assembly passed a Resolution on the State Budget, which requires investment capital to be prioritized for basic construction. This is considered a solution to solve difficulties for businesses.

In terms of financial responsibility and economic solutions, this is a correct request. However, in terms of budget discipline and management responsibility of individuals and relevant agencies, there is still no satisfactory answer. "Is the issue of responsibility being filled in by the pressure to rescue the economy? Are there any irregularities in reviewing and assessing the cause of the problem? Will the overdue debt in basic construction continue?" The delegate questioned.

Appreciating the determination of the Minister of Planning and Investment in rectifying investment activities, however, if the causes of the institutions and responsibilities of the existing problems are not clearly identified and not strictly handled, the development and implementation of the Law on Public Investment will be ineffective.

Delegate Nguyen Thanh Tam asked the Minister to clarify or handle according to his authority the responsibilities of the relevant parties for the occurrence of overdue debts in basic construction and solutions to prevent this situation in the coming time?

Responding to the question of delegate Do Van Duong about the statistics of how many investment projects have been abandoned, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said that the Ministry will review these projects. The issue of investment projects from the State budget but not having enough money to spread them out has been answered by delegates many times at National Assembly sessions. In addition, projects licensed by localities for domestic and foreign investors to fill industrial parks will be reviewed and fully counted.

Regarding statistics on the status of outstanding debts in basic construction, Minister Bui Quang Vinh said that outstanding debts in basic construction come in many forms. Debt in the state plan, recorded for ministries and branches, often exceeds the debts of projects recorded in the plan. The second is projects under the local budget. There are many reports on this issue, some are 100,000 billion, some are 85,000 billion... The latest statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment show that there are only 43,000 billion left. This is the effort of the Government and local ministries and branches.

The Minister affirmed that currently, the budget support for localities must be approved by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance before being implemented. In addition, in order of priority, investment capital must be arranged for completed projects that have been handed over and put into use but lack capital because the Ministry is aware that outstanding debts in basic construction will cause many harmful effects, first of all, difficulties for businesses, and then related to bank debts. Therefore, this problem must be resolved.

It can be affirmed that, in a short time, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has directly advised the Government to issue Directive 1792. The impact of the Directive has had a strong change, the outstanding debt of basic construction is currently decreasing rapidly and is under the control of the Government. Basically, by 2015, localities will control the outstanding debt of basic construction. Management activities are increasingly becoming more orderly...

Receiving the opinions of the National Assembly deputies, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stated that the Government members have made great efforts, many documents including draft laws and projects have been deployed and directed by the Government regularly, with solutions to implement the Resolutions of the Party and the National Assembly. The implementation of the Resolutions has contributed to stabilizing the macro-economy, implementing rapid and sustainable poverty reduction... However, the Government recognizes that there is still much work to be done, including many issues that need to find the causes and propose specific solutions...

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the National Assembly continue to develop early and timely legal policies for the Government's direction and administration; find scientific and technological solutions, especially in the agricultural sector; strictly implement administrative discipline, and strictly handle organizations and individuals that affect the people and society.

In addition, the Central and local governments need to have the responsibility to closely coordinate in implementing socio-economic goals and tasks. Functional ministries and branches need to promote social ethics, including responsibility to the National Assembly and the people for their tasks; and pay attention to fulfilling their promises to the National Assembly.

On the afternoon of November 19, the question and answer session began with the first response from Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat./.

According to VNA