Monitor commitment

"Factories that are found to have an impact on the environment will be closed" is the commitment of Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh in a recent announcement.

By 2030, the Mekong Delta will have 14 thermal power plants. In the photo: Duyen Hai Thermal Power Plant in Tra Vinh is in operation - Photo: V. TRUONG

This commitment is seen as a multi-year environmental and social message that will be monitored for implementation.

This message is even more valuable when public opinion is concerned about the reality of "Coal-fired thermal power surrounding the delta".

Referring to concerns about environmental pollution, Minister Tran Tuan Anh cited a series of articles “Coal-fired thermal power plants surround the delta” in Tuoi Tre and asked leaders of corporations and general companies “not to trade the environment for projects”.

That warning is necessary. After a period of hydropower exploitation, many places are now suffering environmental consequences.

When hydropower runs out, we switch to thermal power. And to ensure economic efficiency, these thermal power plants are located near urban and residential areas, so if pollution occurs, the price to pay is much greater and more dangerous.

And there are many factories in other fields that are poisoning the environment, threatening the living environment of the community, which has been reported by public opinion and people calling for help.

And in that context, not only the commitment, in the announcement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, there is also a list of many factories that are confirmed to have "environmental problems", such as Lam Dong Aluminum Factory arbitrarily changing environmental protection items, without approval but self-implemented; or Textile Group has a textile dyeing wastewater treatment area but does not operate but discharges directly into the environment...

However, the commitments of ministers, corporations and businesses are just words.

Therefore, turning commitments into actions, inspection, monitoring, rectification, including decisions to close facilities that are found to be causing pollution, can convince people.

For now, we can start with the list of facilities at risk of causing pollution that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has identified.

With the commitment of Minister Tran Tuan Anh, the viewpoint of "not trading the environment for projects" needs to be upgraded, that is "not trading the environment to keep the factory".

Only by being so drastic can we save the community's living environment. Although we know that closing a factory is many times more difficult than rejecting a potentially polluting project when it is still on paper.

So, I hope that when the minister has made a commitment, he will find every way to fulfill his commitment. We know that in life, trust is always needed, but with environmental issues, talking is not enough, we must do to believe.

Society remembers the commitment of Minister Tran Tuan Anh and has begun to monitor the implementation of the commitment.

According to Tuoi Tre