Address the root cause and get it right.
(Baonghean) - According to press reports, on the morning of September 10th, residents of Ninh An commune, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province, surrounded Thien Truc Packaging Factory and demanded that it cease operations due to environmental pollution that seriously affects the health of local residents.
Spontaneous gatherings of large crowds of people surrounding various locations to exert pressure and seek solutions to their pressing issues are no longer uncommon. Remember in mid-April this year, hundreds of residents of Vinh Tan commune, Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province, blocked traffic on National Highway 1, causing a long traffic jam. Their purpose wasn't to inconvenience drivers, but rather to pressure the local authorities and relevant agencies to address the pollution caused by ash dust from the Vinh Tan 2 Thermal Power Plant encroaching on residential areas, making it unbearable for them to breathe. This had been going on for months; residents had appealed and petitioned to the authorities, but to no avail, so they resorted to this desperate measure to pressure the relevant agencies to immediately resolve their legitimate demands. Of course, blocking the highway violates the Road Traffic Law, but they had no choice.
Most recently, on September 7th, dozens of fish farmers on the Cha Va River in Long Son commune, Vung Tau City, collectively carried dead fish to the headquarters of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provincial People's Committee to protest the sudden mass death of their fish, which covered the river's surface. Prior to that, they had hired trucks to scatter the dead fish at the gates of seafood processing companies in the area. At first glance, this seems illogical. After all, the fish deaths and the Provincial People's Committee seem unrelated. The farmers raise fish in the river, while the committee operates on the shore, dozens of kilometers apart. "The river water doesn't interfere with the well water," so why would they protest? But that's not entirely true; there is a significant connection between the two sides... The cause, according to the fish farmers, is that seafood processing factories near their farms are discharging untreated wastewater directly into the Cha Va River, causing the fish to suffocate and die in large numbers. The residents had submitted petitions and appeals to the relevant authorities, but no one stepped forward to resolve their issues. In utter despair, the households banded together to pressure the Provincial People's Committee for help. Fortunately for them, this time the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee personally met with them, had a frank discussion, acknowledged the situation, and promised to address it as soon as possible.
Of course, the act of citizens gathering in large numbers to "besiege" government agencies or block roads to exert pressure in order to resolve their pressing issues is illegal and should not be encouraged. The question here is why the local authorities and responsible agencies did not address the situation from its inception, when people first voiced their concerns, but instead ignored it until people could no longer tolerate it and resorted to violence before finally taking action. The root causes need to be analyzed, dissected, clarified, and responsibility clearly assigned to each individual and unit to immediately put an end to this kind of collective intimidation by the public. If this situation continues, it will damage the reputation of government agencies. More profoundly, it will erode public trust in the local government and, by extension, in the regime. Even more dangerously, if this continues, it will create a habit among the people that whenever they are dissatisfied with something, whether justified or not, they will gather together to exert pressure to have their demands met.
Therefore, the best way to put an end to these unpleasant situations is for local authorities to closely monitor people's lives and address the root causes of public dissatisfaction.
Duy Huong