Directors of the Department of Health, Agriculture & Rural Development, Natural Resources & Environment explain to the Provincial People's Council

(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of December 19, the 15th session of the 16th Provincial People's Council entered a question-and-answer session with leaders of the Departments of Health, Natural Resources and Environment, and Agriculture & Rural Development.

Attending the question and answer session were comrades: Ho Duc Phoc - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Xuan Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Tran Hong Chau - Former Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; comrades in the Standing Committee, Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council, Provincial People's Committee, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province; representatives of leaders of departments, branches and delegates of the 16th Provincial People's Council.

People's Council delegates in the questioning session.

Questioning the Director of the Department of Health

In the explanation of Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Director of the Department of Health on the issue of food hygiene and safety and the control of counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, the use of pesticides and stimulants in farming and livestock, he affirmed that this is an issue that has been mentioned many times but still exists and has limitations. The responsibility belongs to the 3 sectors assigned to coordinate management: Health, Agriculture & Rural Development and Industry and Trade.

Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Director of the Department of Health explained to the Provincial People's Council.

In 2015, the Department of Health organized 1,399 inspection teams at all levels, inspected 21,300 establishments, of which 533 establishments were warned, 348 establishments were fined, the total fine was 305,055,000 VND. Pollution monitoring was carried out according to plan, monitoring over 560 chemical and microbiological samples.

Mr. Ho Duc Phoc, delegate of Vinh city, questioned the effectiveness of disease prevention work and the industry's solutions in the coming time.

As the standing agency for food safety in the province, the Department of Health is responsible for managing establishments that produce and trade food additives, processing aids, bottled drinking water, natural mineral water, functional foods and catering services. The Department of Health self-assessed that the implementation of the above tasks did not meet the desired requirements. The sector seriously accepted and hoped to receive constructive comments to overcome the shortcomings in the coming time.

Mr. Pham Van Tan, Nghi Loc delegate, questioned the management and inspection of non-public medical facilities.

Mr. Bui Dinh Long received 9 questions and 6 interrogations from delegates from Vinh city and Nghi Loc district.

Ms. Ton Thi Cam Ha, delegate of Vinh city, raised the current situation of food quality at markets, supermarkets, and warehouses in the province and questioned the control of livestock slaughterhouses.

Mr. Do Dinh Quang, delegate of Vinh city, asked about the licensing and certification of food safety and hygiene for food production, trading and processing establishments in the province.

The Provincial People's Council requested the Department of Health to effectively implement Circular 13 in the coming time, and specifically allocate management responsibilities to each sector. As a permanent sector, the Health sector needs to strengthen propaganda and mobilization of the people, state management and inspection. Direct all levels and sectors to closely coordinate and make efforts to limit food poisoning and ensure public health.

Questioning the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

The questioning session continued with the explanation of Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on the implementation of projects to relocate people from landslide areas in the province and to implement resettlement for ethnic minorities.

He said that currently, in the whole province, there are 12 projects to relocate people out of landslide areas being implemented, with a scale of arranging and relocating 1,030 households. Of which, the People's Committees of the districts are the investors of 10 projects, the Department of Rural Development is the investors of 2 projects. The projects are located in the following localities: Vinh City, Hung Nguyen, Ky Son, Hoang Mai, Quynh Luu, Con Cuong, Que Phong, Tuong Duong, Quy Hop.

Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the explanation and questioning session.

The total approved investment of 12 projects reached over 516 billion VND, and the value of the implemented volume is estimated at over 230 billion VND. The number of households that have been stably arranged reached 128/plan 1,030, or 12.4% of the project.

Regarding the resettlement projects for ethnic minorities, there are currently 12 concentrated projects and 33 interlaced sites in the area. The total investment capital is nearly 192 million VND. Currently, 10/12 concentrated projects have been implemented (2 projects were approved without investment), 245/497 households have been relocated, reaching 49.3% of the plan; 29/33 interlaced sites, 402/458 households have been relocated, reaching 88% of the plan.

The main reasons leading to the slow progress and ineffectiveness of some projects are: low annual capital allocation; the responsibilities of investors and related departments are not clearly defined; site clearance work of some projects faces many difficulties; limited contractor capacity; project locations are located in remote areas, with inconvenient traffic for construction...

Mr. Moong Van Hoi, delegate of Tuong Duong, pointed out the current situation of many ineffective projects, degraded items, and loss of materials.

The industry proposed solutions such as: providing funding to support unfinished projects that are highly feasible and have resettled households; requesting the Government to extend the implementation period of the policy according to Decision 33/TTg until 2020; requesting People's Committees at all levels to strengthen direction and propaganda so that people support and coordinate in site clearance; reviewing and eliminating contractors with limited capacity...

The explanatory report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is assessed to have specifically stated the difficulties and obstacles in implementing the two policies of great significance to the people. The People's Council requested the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and related sectors to clarify responsibilities and strengthen coordination to jointly resolve the difficulties. The Provincial People's Committee needs to pay attention to budget allocation, integrate and prioritize capital sources reasonably, and speed up the implementation of projects to ensure a stable life for the people.

The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development received a question from delegate Moong Van Hoi, Tuong Duong district. The delegate raised 3 issues:

Firstly, implementing Decision 33/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister aims to build villages for farming and settlement to stabilize people's lives. Currently, 10 projects have been implemented in the province, most of which are unfinished and ineffective. In many invested projects, some construction items are damaged and degraded, and many materials are lost. For example, in the project in Pieng Luong (Chau Thanh, Quy Hop), clean water items have been built but are now damaged.

Second, for the Thung Chanh project, the approved capital is 12.7 billion VND, but so far only 2.7 billion VND has been disbursed. Through the supervision of the Provincial People's Council in 2013, it was found that the project had not yet determined the location for resettlement construction, some works were damaged, and some funds that could not be implemented had to be returned.

Third, the implementation of projects to relocate people to landslide areas in urgent situations of hydropower projects still has many shortcomings.

Answering the question of delegate Moong Van Hoi, Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy said that the responsibility of the Provincial Ethnic Committee for responding to the resettlement projects according to Decision 33 of the Prime Minister is the responsibility of the Provincial Ethnic Committee. Regarding the lack of capital to implement resettlement projects and projects to relocate people from landslide areas in the province, right from the beginning of the project construction, it was assessed by relevant ministries. At that time, public investment was tightened. The objective reason was the lack of capital. The Provincial People's Committee assigned the districts to be the investors, so attracting capital was difficult. Regarding land acquisition and clearance, attracting other capital sources in mountainous areas was difficult, affecting the progress of these projects.

Concluding the question-and-answer session on the content of projects and works on settlement and relocation of people out of landslide areas, Ms. Cao Thi Hien, Deputy of the Provincial People's Council, assessed that in the past, the implementation of these two types of projects in the province has reduced damage caused by natural disasters, contributing to stabilizing people's lives. However, many projects have been implemented slowly, affecting people's lives.

The Provincial People's Council proposed that the Provincial People's Committee should pay attention to allocating capital sources and integrating capital sources to effectively implement the project; Sectors and investors need to demonstrate responsibility, review plans to bring people together, focus on implementing projects; strengthen public mobilization and propaganda; pay attention to evaluating and reviewing contractors' capacity, ensuring construction quality...

Ms. Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairwoman of the Provincial People's Council for the 2011 - 2016 term concluded the questioning session with the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Questioning the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Mr. Vo Duy Viet - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in the explanation session on the pollution situation from Industrial Parks (IPs), Industrial Clusters (ICs), factories, and hospitalssaid that in the province there are currently 05 industrial parks, of which 02 have come into operation (Nam Cam, Bac Vinh); 48 industrial clusters, up to now 33 industrial clusters have carried out investment and construction steps, of which 14 industrial clusters have come into operation. In addition, there are 600 factories and production facilities located outside the industrial parks and industrial clusters.

Mr. Vo Duy Viet - Director of Department of Natural Resources and Environment in the questioning session.

Inspections show that: in some industrial parks and industrial clusters, wastewater treatment systems and overflow rainwater collection systems have not been invested in or have been put into operation but are not stable. There is still dust pollution from the transportation process to level the ground, and there has not been investment in planting trees to limit dust and noise.

For factories and facilities located outside industrial parks and industrial clusters, many facilities have not seriously implemented the commitments in the environmental impact assessment report.

Ms. Dinh Thi An Phong, Nghi Loc delegate, reflected on the situation of facilities and factories that do not properly fulfill their commitments in environmental impact reports but are still allowed to operate.

Regarding environmental protection in hospitals, there are currently 43 hospitals in the province under the management of the Department of Health and ministries. All hospitals have invested in overflow rainwater collection systems; 10/12 provincial hospitals, 15/17 district hospitals, 10/10 non-public hospitals, and 04/04 hospitals managed by ministries have wastewater treatment systems.There are 22/43 hospitals with on-site hazardous medical solid waste treatment systems. There is 01 Solid Waste Treatment Complex under trial operation in Nghi Yen (Nghi Loc).

However, many waste treatment facilities are damaged, degraded or overloaded.

Ms. Thai Thi An Chung, delegate of Do Luong, said that the handling of facilities causing environmental pollution and locations storing plant protection chemicals is still limited compared to the actual situation.

The measures proposed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment include: Focusing on exploiting investment capital to build and renovate wastewater treatment systems; regularly operating treatment facilities according to the correct procedures, conducting periodic monitoring; training to raise awareness for leaders, staff in charge of waste treatment systems and medical staff on environmental protection in medical examination and treatment activities; strengthening inspection and supervision of environmental management work, strictly handling violations.

The Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment received 7 questions from the Provincial People's Council delegates.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Nga, Thanh Chuong delegate, reflected on the shortcomings in rural waste treatment.

The Provincial People's Council highly appreciated the questioning session of the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment with a specific explanatory report and frank and highly constructive exchanges of opinions.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee received the opinions shared by the Provincial People's Council delegates.

On behalf of the leadership of the Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee expressed his thanks for the sharing of the Provincial People's Council delegates as well as the explanations of the Department Directors. He affirmed that he would seriously absorb the feedback to overcome the shortcomings and limitations in the direction and implementation of programs and policies in the coming time.

Mr. Ho Duc Phoc - Provincial Party Secretary, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council for the 2011 - 2016 term concluded the questioning session.

Concluding the question and answer session, Mr. Ho Duc Phoc - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council for the 2011 - 2016 term highly appreciated the quality of explanation and discussion on 3 groups of issues of interest to voters, related to the Departments of Health, Agriculture & Rural Development and Natural Resources & Environment. After the session, he requested the Provincial People's Committee to direct the implementation of the commitments of the leaders of the Departments and report the results to the Provincial People's Council and voters.

PV Group