Nghe An continues to strictly handle karaoke businesses that do not meet fire prevention and fighting conditions but are still operating secretly.

Place of repair, place of stealth operation

In fact, many business owners have complied well by continuing to repair and build items to fully meet the prescribed standards. However, for profit, some karaoke business owners, despite not meeting fire safety requirements, still secretly operate.

While directing a group of workers to replace soundproofing materials in the singing room, the manager at a karaoke establishment on Le Nin Avenue said that investment in a karaoke business is very expensive, each singing room alone must cost from 500 million VND or more, of which the majority is for decorative and soundproofing materials... However, according to current regulations, wall cladding materials such as soundproofing, plywood, and decorative materials are not guaranteed and must be replaced.

According to this person, knowing that replacing soundproofing and decorative materials is like completely stripping, however, it is impossible to close forever. Therefore, over the past several months, the facility has been renovating, replacing standard materials and is now basically over 50% complete, with a budget of several billion VND.

Similarly, the owner of a karaoke establishment on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street said: Previously, the establishment fully met the requirements and criteria for security, order, fire prevention and fighting, and was licensed to operate by the competent authority. However, according to the new regulations, the authorities require karaoke establishments to comply with QCVN 06:2022/BXD, which means that the establishments must demolish all the interior and start over from scratch.

According to the owner of the establishment, the difficulty and confusion were real because the establishment did not meet the requirements for soundproofing and decorative materials that were fireproof and non-flammable, so the establishment was suspended. Unfortunately, in the karaoke industry, large investments are required, which entails additional costs, such as maintenance and repair of speakers and machines when not in operation, so there was no other way for the establishment to replace the materials as required. The replacement process took nearly a year and has now been allowed to resume operations.

However, while the above-mentioned facilities overcome difficulties and replace materials to be allowed to operate, in reality there are still facilities that do not comply and still deliberately operate secretly.

For example, on the evening of September 8, posing as customers who wanted to sing karaoke, we went to establishment B. on Dang Thai Mai Street as introduced by H, a local "party-goer". Indeed, as previously tipped off, there was always someone from the establishment on duty. After seeing us, this person ran out to guide us to the parking lot, which was located 2-3 rows of kiosks away from the establishment. After parking, we were instructed to squeeze through the rolling door that had just been opened less than 1 meter, enough for an adult to get in.

In contrast to the quiet exterior and the muted signboard, inside, the rooms were filled with music and singing. Looking around, it was easy to see that compared to the time we used to sing there and now, this establishment has hardly improved anything. On the walls and ceiling, there are still the same old decorative materials…

After an hour of pretending to be customers who hadn’t sung for a long time, we called to pay, went to the reception desk and found the roller shutter door closed and could only be opened when the payment was completed. As soon as we all left, the roller shutter door was also closed.

Not only in Vinh city, with the same way of operation, in many localities, karaoke business activities are still taking place. After drinking parties, many people still livestream in singing rooms. According to Mr. TB in Tan Ky district, if in the past at karaoke establishments, especially in the evening, it was easy to see the bright advertising signs and crowded vehicles, now the establishments are all operating secretly, in some places, they have to confirm with acquaintances before accepting customers...

Continue to monitor and provide guidance on troubleshooting.

Up to now, in Nghe An province, there are 399 karaoke establishments, bars, pubs under the State management of fire prevention and fighting. Of these, 174 establishments have been suspended, 221 establishments have voluntarily stopped operating, only 4 establishments in Vinh city are eligible to operate, including: Seven bar, Zuly bar, The Local pub, Vertu karaoke.

According to the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Nghe An Police): In the past time, along with establishing working groups to guide facilities to overcome existing problems, the force has increased inspection and supervision, thereby penalizing 67 cases that did not meet fire prevention and fighting conditions but still secretly operated, with a total fine of 690,200,000 VND.

The owner of a karaoke establishment that is urgently repairing in Vinh city said that karaoke establishments that do not meet fire safety requirements are still secretly operating illegally, not only disregarding the law, but also causing inequality for other businesses that are still accepting to stop operating to invest and complete infrastructure to meet fire safety requirements.

According to the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Nghe An Police): In the past time, along with inspection and supervision to prevent unqualified fire prevention and rescue facilities from operating secretly, the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police force has established working groups to guide facilities to overcome existing problems (which are the reasons for stopping operations up to now), including: substandard decoration and soundproofing materials; unsafe corridors and escape routes; not connecting the sound system to the fire alarm system... However, many facilities are still sitting still and motionless.

Currently, based on the classification of karaoke, bar, and pub service establishments in the area into 3 cases, including:

Firstly, facilities subject to approval and acceptance have ensured safety conditions for fire prevention, fire fighting, security and order but are stuck with materials, then the materials must be replaced.

Second, if the facility is not subject to design review and acceptance, but does not ensure fire prevention and fighting safety conditions, such as escape routes, sound systems not connected to the fire alarm system, etc., the facility is required to ensure 2 escape routes, interconnected with the sound system.

Third, in case the facilities are subject to approval and acceptance but have not yet prepared an approval and acceptance dossier, and have flammable materials, the facility is required to prepare a design dossier to submit to the competent authority.

The Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Nghe An Police) continues to inspect and guide facilities to overcome the situation, ensuring that facilities allowed to operate must meet the conditions of fire prevention, fire fighting, security and order.

According to the leader of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Nghe An Police), for profit, the suspended karaoke establishments are still operating secretly, some other establishments are still operating even though they are under repair. We will continue to direct inspection, supervision, and clearly assign responsibility to individuals and groups when violations occur.

However, on the basis of determining that fire prevention and fighting is a common responsibility not only of the authorities, but of all levels, sectors and people, so for karaoke businesses that have been suspended, are under repair, but are still operating secretly, it is necessary to have the spirit of denunciation from the people, as well as the awareness of the customers. Absolutely do not use services at establishments that do not ensure and meet the fire prevention and fighting conditions according to regulations, because this action is not only a sense of compliance with the provisions of the law, but also to preserve one's own life.