'If the Minister is hesitant, report to the Prime Minister to speak'

The Prime Minister reminded the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism about the Ministry's failure to respond to offensive phenomena in festival organization that upset people.

Minister, Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, Head of the Prime Minister's Working Group, stated the Prime Minister's opinion at the inspection of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) on the morning of February 14.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the 14th unit inspected by the Working Group and also the first Ministry to be inspected after the recent Lunar New Year holiday in the context of many festivals being held.

Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung speaks at a working session with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

From January 1, 2016 to now, the Government and the Prime Minister have assigned the Ministry 282 tasks, of which 156 have been completed, only 6 are overdue. "The overdue rate is not high, demonstrating the great efforts of the Ministry. However, through the Working Group, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has conveyed 5 issues requiring the Ministry to explain and overcome," said Minister Mai Tien Dung.

Firstly, regarding festival management. The Prime Minister has requested that work must begin immediately from the first hour, the first day after the Tet holiday, no use of public vehicles, no use of office hours to go to festivals. Along with that, people do not agree with many offensive and distorted phenomena at festivals, such as fighting for blessings... at many festivals, many festivals are commercialized. Some festivals are large-scale, long-lasting but lack unified management. The general policy is to socialize the organization of festivals but need State management.

“Those matters are related to people’s awareness and awareness education, but need the voice of the state management agency, but the Ministry has not spoken up or responded. If the Minister is concerned, he should report to the Prime Minister for direction, but the Ministry has not made any report,” Minister Mai Tien Dung conveyed the Prime Minister’s opinion.

Along with that, the Prime Minister also requested the Ministry to inspect the organization of festivals, check the implementation of regulations such as banning the use of public vehicles to attend festivals, banning festivals during office hours... to rectify.

The second issue, the Prime Minister requested a report on the progress of implementing the Politburo's Resolution on making tourism a spearhead economic sector, and the implementation of the Prime Minister's directives at the National Conference on Tourism Development. Specifically, how to solve the problem of visitors not wanting to return, the problem of tour guides, service quality, infrastructure, and how to solve the situation of "ripping off" tourists... "It is very offensive when places clearly state that they do not accept Chinese guests, that is unacceptable in the time of integration and opening up. So the State management agency must speak up," the Minister said.

The third issue is about sports and family. Sports in 2016 had impressive achievements, it is necessary to continue to pay attention to training young athletes, fighting against negativity in sports, especially in football. Regarding infrastructure, such as the My Dinh sports complex has been socialized in exploitation and use, which is the right thing to do, but the requirement is to serve the right sports goals, avoid breaking the planning, and the infrastructure is not regularly repaired.

Regarding family issues, the Prime Minister noted that commemorative events should not be held until Vietnamese Family Day, but that attention should be paid to educating about family culture, preventing domestic violence, and caring for children regularly.

The fourth issue is the preservation of relics and street decoration. Minister Mai Tien Dung pointed out that it is necessary to pay close attention to ensuring the landscape and urban order when the phenomenon of encroachment on roads and sidewalks, the use of foreign languages ​​on billboards, etc. still exists in many places.

The fifth issue is that we need to pay close attention to the management of performing arts, as beauty contests from national to local levels exploded in 2016. Along with that, there is the work of conferring titles on artists and considering awards to artists. “When poets like Xuan Quynh, Thu Bon… do not receive awards, there are opinions and public concern, so there must be explanations, reports, and clear reasons. Then there is the phenomenon of conferring titles and posthumous awards but no immediate reward money. Then there is the need to prevent bribery, to be very fair and objective, even if there is none, there should be no public suspicion,” the Minister said, emphasizing the need to pay attention to artists.

Minister Mai Tien Dung requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to explain and clarify the 6 overdue tasks and the 5 issues requested by the Prime Minister above in an objective and impartial manner. "If any problem is the responsibility of the Government Office, we will take responsibility," the Minister said frankly./.

According to VOV