Delegate Hoang Thu Trang: 'Voters are concerned about the quality of post-inspection at projects with environmental risks'

(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of November 15, the issue of overcoming the consequences of the marine environmental incident in 4 central provinces caused by Formosa continued to be questioned by National Assembly deputies (NA deputies) to Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) Tran Hong Ha.

At the question and answer session, delegate Hoang Thi Thu Trang (Nghe An delegation) commented that many environmental incidents have occurred recently, especially river and marine pollution. Through contact, voters were concerned about the quality of supervision and post-inspection at risky projects, and this was also an important cause leading to recent environmental incidents. The delegate asked the Minister to propose solutions to overcome these problems in the coming time.

Delegate Hoang Thi Thu Trang

Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Phuong (Quang Binh) said that Quang Binh voters highly appreciated the solutions of the National Assembly and the Government to overcome the consequences caused by Formosa. However, Mr. Phuong asked the Minister to say: "What are the bases to ensure the solidity in Formosa not polluting the marine environment anymore to create trust for fishermen in the future?"

This delegate also questioned the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) about the compensation for only 7 subjects and in just 6 months, there were many unreasonable points, leaving out some subjects in the fields of tourism, seafood trading, business owners and employees in purchasing, processing and trading seafood not in coastal communes, causing questions, complaints, and pressure on village and commune officials. The delegate requested the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to propose a solution to solve this outstanding problem in the coming time.

Responding to questions from delegates, Minister Tran Hong Ha said that troubleshooting is an issue that the Politburo, relevant ministries and localities are particularly concerned about, focusing on solving the problem and paying attention to people's lives in the short and long term.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha answers questions

The head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said, "in this matter, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible". Accordingly, after pointing out Formosa's violations, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment established working groups, with the participation of prestigious scientists, to review, evaluate and request the enterprise to immediately take specific measures.

Minister Tran Hong Ha affirmed that the working group of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment have organized 24/7 monitoring of wastewater, emissions, solid and hazardous waste of this factory.

"For waste treatment measures, all requirements and regulations are set, applying the highest international standards. Treatment technology for wastewater generated from power plants, coking plants, and other areas such as Formosa's ports are all considered and have specific treatment processes attached; there are measures to prevent incidents; all parameters are fully monitored and transmitted directly to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ha Tinh and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment," said Mr. Ha.

Regarding some technological problems that Formosa will not complete until 2018, Minister Ha affirmed that there have been calculations, close monitoring, and application of modern standards, such as those of Korea, to the final source of waste.

"It can be said that they have actively implemented the processes and requirements for the treatment industry, ensuring the construction of a safe factory, long-term maintenance without incidents for sustainable development in the locality. For better control, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is designing a comprehensive marine environment monitoring system for these four localities, automatically monitoring all parameters, controlling all Formosa's emissions from gas emissions to wastewater," the leader of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment reported to the National Assembly delegates.

Overview of the questioning session

In controlling solid waste and hazardous sludge, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has required that during the period when a contract has not been signed with a qualified enterprise, it must be stored according to regulations. The Ministry has coordinated with Ha Tinh province to encourage enterprises to speed up the construction of hazardous waste treatment plants there. Formosa has also signed a contract with enterprises to store hazardous waste and industrial waste.

In addition, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also requested the Ministry of Construction to soon issue standards on construction materials so that some coal slag and bottom slag waste can become commercial and be transported and operated normally.

According to the affirmation of Minister Tran Hong Ha, recently Formosa has invited many famous consulting agencies on environmental treatment from France and the US to consult on long-term issues, fundamentally changing the cup stamping technology. The waste treatment operation process must meet standards, ensuring that all stages are strictly inspected and controlled, ensuring that Formosa will not cause pollution in the future, minimizing the possibility of causing environmental incidents.

Regarding the compensation plan for the affected subjects, at the request of National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to respond to National Assembly deputies in writing.

Many other pressing issues such as filling up Dong Nai River, monitoring and waste discharge activities in craft villages and industrial parks; punishing violations by polluting units; handling environmental pollution in Nhue River and Day River... were also raised by National Assembly deputies with Minister Tran Hong Ha.

Tomorrow morning (November 16), Minister Tran Hong Ha will have 20 minutes to answer questions raised by National Assembly deputies this afternoon but has not had time to answer.

Duong Gim