Nghe An: Handling responsibilities of 2 district chairmen and 33 commune chairmen

On the morning of October 16, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council had a meeting with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment under the program of supervising the settlement of voters' petitions in the province. Comrade Hoang Viet Duong - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council chaired the meeting. Photo: Mai Hoa

Many environmental pollution points recur

At the meeting, the issue raised by the monitoring delegation was many environmental pollution points that voters reported. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment received it, organized inspection teams, examined and dealt with it decisively. However, after inspection and handling, the problem recurred.

Specifically, the environmental pollution at Song Con Sugar Factory; the treatment of wastewater pollution at Rao Dung culvert (Nghi Loc and Vinh city) was reported by voters since the 3rd session (2017) and continued to be reported at the 9th session (2019); environmental pollution at Dai Thanh Loc livestock farm (Nam Dan).

Or Minh Thai Son Sand Powder Processing Factory (in Nam Cam Industrial Park); environmental pollution from livestock farms belonging to TH Group; Nghi Yen and Quynh Luu landfills and some production facilities causing environmental pollution located in residential areas...

Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Duy Viet said that due to the resources and responsibilities of many levels and sectors, many voters' recommendations have not been thoroughly resolved. Photo: Mai Hoa

The representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment acknowledged that the issues raised by voters and people are well-founded and that the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has been and is continuing to coordinate with relevant units and localities to monitor and urge resolution.

Regarding environmental pollution in some communes of Nghia Dan district where TH Group’s livestock farms are located, the wastewater collection and treatment systems in clusters 1 and 2 have been completed and the environmental protection works have been confirmed. However, during times of heavy rain, causing localized flooding, environmental pollution continues.

Regarding environmental pollution in Rao Dung sewer due to untreated wastewater from Vinh city flowing in, Vinh city has currently focused on attracting resources to invest in a wastewater treatment system.

Dai Thanh Loc livestock farm is focusing on solutions to handle environmental pollution. Photo: Mai Hoa

Regarding environmental pollution at Nghi Yen landfill, in addition to environmental issues, it also affects security and order. Therefore, to completely resolve Nghi Yen landfill, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment recommends that the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee soon allocate funds to relocate households out of the polluted area.

To address the recurrence of environmental pollution, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment established a monitoring team and put 19 facilities at risk of causing environmental pollution on a special monitoring list for unscheduled sampling and monitoring.

There is a specific roadmap to resolve long-standing grievances.

Besides environmental issues, many issues were also proposed by voters such as: land and forest allocation; reclaiming farm and forestry land to hand over to people; granting certificates of land use rights for residential land, agricultural land, land and housing use rights certificates in urban projects, apartment buildings; illegal sand and gravel mining....

Strengthen patrols and handle sand and gravel exploitation. Photo: Mai Hoa

Regarding the issues that voters have repeatedly petitioned for, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Duy Viet said that due to the issue of resources and responsibilities belonging to many levels and sectors; the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is indirectly responsible, while the direct responsibility lies with the district-level localities and the coordination of relevant sectors.

For example, land and forest allocation is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; handing over land from forestry farms to people and issuing land use right certificates, managing illegal sand and gravel mining, etc. are the responsibility of the district level.

In the past 2 years, the province has prosecuted 3 cases with 3 defendants illegally exploiting sand and gravel. To handle the responsibility of the head, the Provincial People's Committee recently criticized the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts, along with the Chairman of the People's Committee of 33 communes related to the responsibility in managing mineral exploitation activities.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Viet Duong shared that natural resources and environment is a complex, sensitive and difficult field; voters and people have submitted many petitions to the Provincial People's Council through voter meetings; especially land accounts for more than 80% of citizens' petitions.

Although in recent times, the sector has made many efforts to proactively advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue many legal documents, plans, and directions to resolve shortcomings as well as voters' recommendations. However, it has not been able to meet the practical requirements and wishes of voters and people.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to review and classify voters' recommendations according to their authority and responsibility to advise the Provincial People's Committee to direct sectors and localities to take drastic action; at the same time, proactively handle issues under the responsibility of the Department, actively coordinate with sectors and localities.

The Department also needs to actively advise the Provincial People's Committee to revoke projects that are behind schedule; pay attention to monitoring and urging the implementation of inspection and examination results, ensuring that existing problems and shortcomings are thoroughly handled.