Delegate Le Xuan Dai: Water business cannot disregard people's interests

At the discussion session in the hall, regarding the management, quality and price of domestic water, many delegates suggested clarifying the following issues: Why not use water from the Lam River plant? Clarify the difference in raw water input price at the point of taking water from Lam River and Dao River. Clearly announce the water quality index to reassure people.

For the water source, what standards must be met to be put into production; similarly for the “output”, how many standards must the water meet so that people can use it? And are the clean water standards in different localities the same? For example, are the standards in Vinh City the same as in mountainous districts such as Tuong Duong and Ky Son?

Raw water treatment system of Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. Photo: Nhat Lan

Directly responding to the delegates' opinions, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Acting Director of the Department of Construction said that the supply of clean water is related to many departments and branches, in which the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for the quality of input raw water, the Department of Health is responsible for the quality of output clean water, the Department of Finance manages water prices, in addition, the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns are responsible for supervision.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang - Acting Director of the Department of Construction explained the opinions of the delegates. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding the pumping of water from the Dao River, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang said that this is an agreement based on contract No. 04 of 2015 between the One Member Limited Liability Water Supply Company and the Song Lam Water Supply Company with the Provincial People's Committee. After equitization, Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company operates under the business model and has also been granted a certificate of using water from the Dao River by the Provincial People's Committee.

Regarding the adjustment of water prices, in case Nghe An Water Supply Company uses Dao River water with a lower input price, the Department of Construction will coordinate with relevant departments and branches to determine the raw water input from Dao River to refund the people the difference in raw water input price at the location taken from Lam River and Dao River. However, Mr. Giang said that the time to stop using Dao River water has not yet been determined, so the Department of Finance has not yet given the difference in volume to refund to the people.

Emphasizing the viewpoint of the Department of Construction, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang affirmed the desire to get clean water from Lam River, but water prices must be reasonably structured so that water supply companies and people can both benefit.

Delegate Le Xuan Dai participated in the debate on the quality and price of clean water. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Giving an example, "Hong Linh can have forest fires and reduce trees, Lam River can have drought and reduce water. But there is still enough raw water from Lam River Water Plant to produce raw water and meet basic clean water standards to serve the people", delegate Le Xuan Dai said that there is no reason to use Dao River water. "This is unacceptable", Mr. Le Xuan Dai said.

Regarding the explanation of the Department of Construction when presenting the State's management role, especially after the Nghe An Water Supply One Member Limited Liability Company was equitized into a Water Supply Joint Stock Company, delegate Le Xuan Dai said that transforming into a joint stock company does not mean distorting the image of a water supply company. On the contrary, a joint stock company must do better, be more dynamic, especially promoting responsibility and ethics in business.

Also related to the issue of clean water quality, delegate Nguyen Huu Cau commented that the origin of all causesis due to unfair competition. Therefore, it is recommended that the Provincial People's Committee encourage businesses to invest in the clean water sector, creating a healthy competitive environment, in order to bring cleaner water quality to the people.

Director of the Department of Health Duong Dinh Chinh participated in the explanation. Photo: Thanh Cuong

As the agency to inspect and monitor the output quality of water sources, Mr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of the Department of Health said that the water samples tested at the Nghe An Center for Preventive Medicine were all recognized by the Department of Standards and Quality Measurement of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the laboratory of the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine was granted ISO certification.

The Director of the Department of Health added that according to the set of quality standards, water sources must meet 109 criteria. However, with the current capacity of Nghe An, only 24 quality indicators have been tested. Recently, under the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department has conducted surprise inspections of health regulations on clean water supply in all units; at the same time, sent an official dispatch to the Institute of Health of the Ministry of Health requesting professional support for testing. After the test results are available, the Department of Health will provide all results to the relevant authorities.

Concluding this content, Mr. Hoang Viet Duong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council affirmed that managing the quality of living is the responsibility of many related sectors, therefore, it is necessary to regularly strengthen coordination and combination between sectors to complete the task well, ensuring the quality of long-term and sustainable domestic water for the people. At the same time, he requested the Provincial People's Committee to soon issue technical standards on the quality of clean domestic water.

Need for transparency in issues related to domestic water

(Baonghean.vn) - Whether you are an ordinary citizen, an organization representative, or working at a scientific agency... all require that issues related to clean water for daily life be clear and transparent.