When collecting wastewater fees, the drainage system must be well maintained.

(Baonghean) - People are wondering when they know that from January 1, 2016, each familyin Vinh City, Cua Lo Town and Thai Hoawill have to pay additional drainage service fees and the fees are not cheap: Households and individuals 1,200 VND/m3, administrative and public agencies 1,600 VND/m3, service businesses 3,500 VND/m3, production facilities 2,400 VND/m3. It is expected to collect 18 billion VND from households in 2016.

Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City has many hamlets with unsafe canals.

People's opinion

According to Decision No. 65/2015 (dated November 5) on the regulation of drainage service fees in Vinh city and Cua Lo and Thai Hoa towns of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, organizations and individuals involved in discharging wastewater into the centralized drainage system in the above areas must pay fees. For Cua Lo and Thai Hoa towns, the fee is 80% of the price applied to entities operating in Vinh city. The regulation also clearly states: For households using clean water from the centralized water supply system, the amount of wastewater is calculated at 100% of the volume of clean water consumed according to the water bill.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Hung, from Hamlet 15 Nghi Phu, also commented: "Actually, my household's wastewater has not yet been discharged into the city's common wastewater ditch, but is being discharged into a common pond, seeping into the ground. Why do I have to pay when the city has not invested in a drainage system?" Ms. Le Thu, a business owner in Quan Bau Ward, said that the wastewater price for businesses has increased from VND2,900/m3 of wastewater to VND3,500/m3 while the price for production facilities is VND2,400/m3, which is also unreasonable because they are all businesses.

Not only households, but also agencies and public service units will have to pay higher drainage fees than before according to the new regulations. Previously, agencies and enterprises had to pay this type of fee and many units paid high fees. According to the synthesis of Nghe An Water Supply and Drainage Company Limited, customers paid high fees in 1 month (October 2015) such as: Nghe An Children's Hospital paid 3,812,000 VND in October, Military Region 4 Hospital paid 6,511,000 VND, Nghe An Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities paid 2,520,000 VND, Vietnam - Korea Vocational College paid 4,562,000 VND... and this fee will increase by 33% next year.

Why collect?

Ms. Hoang Thi Le Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance, said: Regarding the legal basis, on August 6, 2015, the Government issued a regulation on drainage and wastewater treatment. Polluters must pay for pollution treatment; revenue from drainage and wastewater treatment services must be gradually met and gradually compensate for drainage service costs. That is the general principle of drainage and wastewater treatment management stipulated in the Decree.80/2014/ND-CPon drainage and wastewater treatment.

Before the promulgation of drainage fee regulations in Vinh city, the whole province collected environmental protection fees for domestic wastewater according to the provisions of Decision No. 12/2013/QD-UBND dated January 31, 2013 of the Provincial People's Committee.

Accordingly, the fee for households and individuals is 800 VND/m3 of wastewater; administrative agencies, hospitals, schools, and armed forces are 1,200 VND/m3 of wastewater; service businesses are 2,900 VND/m3 of wastewater; production facilities are 1,500 VND/m3 of wastewater. And we have collected a total amount of money in 2014, which is 9,112,250,000 VND, and in the first 6 months of 2015, it is 5,073,825,000 VND.

The collected amount is managed by the owner of the drainage and wastewater treatment system to serve the maintenance, repair and operation of the drainage and wastewater treatment system of Vinh city.

The basis for calculating drainage service prices, according to the Department of Finance, is based on the socio-economic situation and people's income to set appropriate prices for each period, based on the current costs of management, operation, maintenance, repair of the drainage system and wastewater treatment, and based on the volume of wastewater discharged by households through the amount of clean water consumed.

Canal No. 3, Truong Thi Ward is polluted.

Mr. Bui Duc Loc, Director of Vinh Urban Infrastructure Development Company, added: Previously, to collect household wastewater fees, the Urban Infrastructure Development Company had to identify households that were connected to the city's drainage system. Since January 1, 2011, all households that discharge wastewater into the ground or into the city's drainage system have been set up by the Company to collect.

Wastewater fees have two collection channels: one through the water supply unit and the other through the company. The drainage system in the city is currently very inadequate, for example, Vinh River is polluted like oil but there is no funding to collect and treat wastewater for this river.

In addition, only 8 central wards of the city have connections to the drainage system of Hong Bang canal, canal number 2, canal number 3, while many wards and communes do not have a wastewater drainage system such as Quan Bau, Nghi Phu, Hung Loc, Le Loi, Doi Cung, ... to the wastewater plant. This collection system is in need of a huge investment fund. This fee collection fund serves the wastewater plant's operation and collection connection to the general wastewater system.

It is expected to collect 18 billion VND from households in 2016, of which the annual cost for the wastewater plant is 6 billion VND including labor, chemicals, electricity, the rest will be used to connect and thoroughly collect wastewater from residents.

Thus, the implementation of drainage (wastewater) fee collection for all households in Vinh city, Cua Lo town, Thai Hoa town has a legal basis and meets the practical needs of wastewater treatment, creating a source of funding for management and operation of drainage systems and wastewater treatment in urban areas in the area, reducing the burden on the state budget.

However, when implementing fee collection, it is necessary to ensure the principle stipulated by the Government: drainage service price is linked to the quality of drainage service provision, accordingly, when people participate in investing in drainage infrastructure of cities and towns, they do not have to suffer from environmental pollution from wastewater and flooding during the rainy season.

Chau Lan