Final Post: Delivering on the Promise to Fix Pollution

(Baonghean) - To ensure the harmony of interests between businesses and people, building an environmentally friendly factory model is a process that cannot be completed overnight, requiring efforts and sharing from many sides. The most important issue now is that Saigon-Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company needs to urgently implement both short-term and long-term solutions to overcome pollution and regain people's trust.

The fact that Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Company increased its capacity at a time when production caused environmental pollution made some households in the surrounding area (concentrated in Block 10 - Truong Thi Ward - Vinh City) upset and sent a petition requesting relocation. This is a completely legitimate wish of the people, but we must also objectively recognize and acknowledge the efforts of the factory in balancing production, business and overcoming environmental pollution recently, to ensure the harmony of interests between the people and businesses.

Treated water sample

Currently, the ditch (over 800m long) is being invested and upgraded, however, the covering of ditch No. 3 is only carried out from the fence of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company to the An Duong Vuong culvert (over 101m long), so the remaining open ditch will be very difficult to ensure the environment, because people living along this ditch often dump waste directly into the ditch, causing blockage of the flow, polluting the environment, but blaming Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company for discharging waste causing environmental pollution is not true. Therefore, to completely resolve this situation, relevant levels and sectors need to pay attention, invest synchronously and promptly to complete the ditch No. 3 system, contributing significantly to improving the environment in this area. Mr. Dau Ngoc Thai - Block 7, Truong Thi Ward, house right next to ditch number 3 suggested: "In reality, the pollution of ditch number 3 affects many blocks, so if the city invests in renovating and covering the ditch, it should cover the entire length along the route to ensure the common environment."

This is also the wish of the leaders of Truong Thi Ward. Mr. Nguyen Tat Thien - Chairman of the Ward People's Committee also said: The Ward has sent a document to the city proposing to change the design of ditch No. 3 with the reason that "the ditch has been built a long time ago, during the process of use until now, most of it has been damaged, seriously degraded, the ditch walls on both sides have collapsed, the bottom of the ditch is no longer there, leading to the foot of the ditch being damaged, causing danger to people passing through this area. Therefore, the construction unit implementing the cover of the ditch without measures to reinforce the ditch wall is unreasonable and will cause the drainage ditch wall to collapse in the near future. Based on the above reality, the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward recommends pouring concrete to reinforce the ditch wall on each side with a thickness of 150 mm, pouring braces every 5m - 10m before covering the woven plate". Nghe An Newspaper reporters observed the actual situation at the scene and found this recommendation reasonable.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Chuong (Block 10), who lives right behind the wastewater treatment area of ​​the brewery, said: “I have been to the Hanoi Brewery and Ha Li Da, which are also located in residential areas, but they still handle the process well, and their production is normal and there is no smell, even though their land area is very small. For the Saigon - Nghe Tinh Brewery, now it is not a matter of moving or not moving, but the most important issue is to overcome the environmental pollution, thoroughly handle the odor, dust, noise and wastewater.”

Obviously, in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi... there are still environmentally friendly beer factories right in the heart of the city, even though their area is smaller and the surrounding population is larger. In Vinh City, Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Factory still has "land" to develop, but the remaining problem is whether the enterprise can improve the environmental situation or not? Talking to us about this issue, Mr. Ngo Quang Danh, Member of the Board of Directors, Chief Accountant of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company said: "The current environmental problem has been and is being improved. The company is actively implementing the renovation of construction items and will reduce the operating capacity of the factory according to the requirements of Nghe An province... In the coming time, the enterprise will continue to focus on investing to upgrade and renovate the environmental treatment system and we will carry out the investment in a "rolling" manner, completing each construction item...

Therefore, to gradually and effectively solve environmental problems, it takes time, so we really need support from all levels, sectors and especially the people". The investment method for environmental treatment at Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company is implemented according to the environmental treatment investment model of Saigon Beer Factory at 187 - Nguyen Chi Thanh Street - Ward 12 - District 5 - Ho Chi Minh City. With that "rolling" investment method, Saigon Beer Factory at 187 - Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City has reduced capacity, both maintaining production and investing in the construction of wastewater treatment works, so although located in the inner city of Ho Chi Minh City, it still ensures environmental issues and effective production and business.

However, in addition to renovating and upgrading the wastewater treatment system and investing in environmentally friendly technology, Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company and Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Factory need to learn how to build a close relationship with local authorities and people in the area where they are located, such as the Saigon Beer Factory at 187 - Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City. Because reality shows that for a long time, the relationship between the beer company and the people living around the factory has not been good, which is also one of the reasons why "one mistake leads to another".

Even Mr. Tran Van Giao - Party Secretary, Chairman of the Ward People's Council and Mr. Nguyen Tat Thien - Chairman of the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward both said: "Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company needs to coordinate better with local authorities in supporting and resolving direct impacts caused by the brewery affecting the lives of people in neighboring areas". Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company is one of the units that is very interested in community support and social security in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, but in Truong Thi Ward, which is the location of the direct production enterprise, this work has not really been focused on.

Some people think that: Right in the area directly affected by the brewery, there are some families facing many difficulties in life. Or some technical infrastructure works in the locality also need to be upgraded and the activities of the education promotion associations, veterans... need the attention and timely support of all levels, sectors, organizations and if Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company has more practical and suitable activities in this area, it will create cohesion and good relationships and cooperation. That not only demonstrates its responsibility to "near neighbors", but also ensures the harmony of local interests and especially for the people so that they can feel secure in stabilizing their lives.

Another important issue that Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company needs to learn from the Brewery at 187, Nguyen Chi Thanh Street - Ho Chi Minh City is to build and implement regulations, labor discipline and training, education on environmental protection awareness as well as staff capacity. Because people are the most crucial factor, no matter how modern the machinery is, if people have poor awareness and limited capacity, incidents such as "falling asleep for 15 minutes causing mud to overflow" or "negligent operation not following the correct procedure" are inevitable... As far as we know, the Brewery at 187, Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City is the cradle for training key staff of SABECO. Here, hundreds of “source” staff have been trained for factories in the SABECO system and currently the key staff of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Factory are those who have received formal and systematic training, so the good practices and valuable experiences in the process of investment, production, business, environmental treatment... of the Brewery at 187, Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City will certainly be useful for Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company and help the company soon stabilize production, business, and ensure the environment.

In addition, to prevent and minimize pollution, Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company should implement synchronous management and technical measures to save water resources, raw materials, energy, minimize emissions, collect scrap, save treatment costs, and gradually approach cleaner production for sustainable development. Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company affirmed: "We will be determined to thoroughly solve the problem of environmental pollution. In the long term, we can consider moving the wastewater treatment area, moving part of the production site to the suburbs...". In addition, some opinions suggest that resettlement solutions should be considered for some households living right next to the factory's wastewater treatment area to ensure long-term stability.

The people's desire to live in a clean environment is legitimate, so in recent times, the Provincial People's Committee has been very active in directing functional departments, supervising and promoting Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company to quickly complete environmental treatment works to meet the needs of people living in a clean environment. Currently, the company has been actively completing the requirements assigned by the Provincial People's Committee. The company's leader said: "After the automatic water discharge system, input equalization tank, automatic anaerobic tank, etc. are completed, the company's wastewater treatment capacity will increase by 30% compared to the current capacity".

On the side of Vinh City government, Mr. Le Quoc Hong - Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee said: "Following the direction of the province, Vinh City has established a team to monitor environmental protection work at the Brewery of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company, including members from relevant agencies of Vinh City People's Committee, Truong Thi Ward and representatives of heads of related residential blocks. Along with that, speed up the renovation of ditch No. 3 and coordinate with relevant sectors to strengthen propaganda and mobilize businesses and people to comply with legal regulations."

However, some residents have reported that the city has issued a monitoring plan but in reality, residents have not been able to directly participate in this monitoring activity. It is recommended that the City People's Committee direct the monitoring team to start operating, ensuring the publicity and transparency of information related to the brewery environment so that residents can monitor, inspect and supervise.

As mentioned above, the contribution and development of Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company has become a solid foundation and a driving force for the development of the beverage processing industry in Nghe An. Thanks to that, the province has now attracted many large investment projects in the field of beer and beverage production. This demonstrates the province's preferential policies and effective investment attraction to promote socio-economic development, creating a premise for implementing Resolution 26 of the Politburo. Therefore, in order for Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company to stabilize production and continue to invest in Nghe An on the basis of harmonizing the interests of people and businesses, people should also share with the factory, creating opportunities for the factory to demonstrate its ability to solve environmental problems. However, it is important that Saigon - Nghe Tinh Beer Joint Stock Company must fulfill its promise to "Overcome environmental pollution with the people and the province" because "once untrustworthy, thousands of times untrustworthy".

Article and photos:Reporter Group