'If the Minister is hesitant, report it so the Prime Minister can speak up'

The Prime Minister reminded the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism about the Ministry's failure to respond to offensive phenomena in festival organization that upset people.

Minister, Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, Head of the Prime Minister's Working Group, stated the Prime Minister's opinion at the inspection of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) on the morning of February 14.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the 14th unit inspected by the Working Group and also the first Ministry to be inspected after the recent Lunar New Year holiday in the context of many festivals being held.

Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung speaks at a working session with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

From January 1, 2016 to now, the Government and the Prime Minister have assigned the Ministry 282 tasks, of which 156 have been completed, only 6 are overdue. "The overdue rate is not high, demonstrating the great efforts of the Ministry. However, through the Working Group, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has conveyed 5 issues requiring the Ministry to explain and overcome", said Minister Mai Tien Dung.

Firstly, regarding festival management. The Prime Minister has requested that work must begin immediately from the first hour, the first day after the Tet holiday, no use of public vehicles, no use of office hours to go to festivals. Along with that, people do not agree with many offensive and distorted phenomena at festivals, such as fighting for blessings... at many festivals, many festivals are commercialized. Some festivals are large-scale, long-lasting but lack unified management. The general policy is to socialize the organization of festivals but need State management.

“Those matters are related to people’s awareness and awareness education, but need the voice of the state management agency, but the Ministry does not speak up or respond. If the Minister is hesitant, he should report to the Prime Minister for direction, but the Ministry does not have any report,” Minister Mai Tien Dung conveyed the Prime Minister’s opinion.

Along with that, the Prime Minister also requested the Ministry to inspect the organization of festivals, inspect the implementation of regulations such as banning the use of public vehicles to attend festivals, banning festivals during office hours... to rectify.

The second issue, the Prime Minister requested a report on the progress of implementing the Politburo's Resolution on making tourism a spearhead economic sector, the implementation of the Prime Minister's directive at the National Conference on Tourism Development. Specifically, how to solve the problem of visitors not wanting to return, the problem of tour guides, service quality, infrastructure, and how to solve the situation of "ripping off" tourists... "It is very offensive when places clearly state that they do not accept Chinese guests, that is unacceptable in the time of integration and opening up. So the State management agency must speak up," said the Minister.

The third issue is about sports and family. Sports in 2016 had impressive achievements, it is necessary to continue to pay attention to training young athletes, fighting negativity in sports, especially in football. Regarding infrastructure, such as the My Dinh sports complex has been socialized in exploitation and use, which is the right thing to do, but the requirement is to serve the right sports goals, avoid breaking the planning, and the infrastructure is not regularly repaired.

Regarding family issues, the Prime Minister noted that we should not wait until Vietnamese Family Day to organize commemorative events, but should pay close attention to educating about family culture, preventing domestic violence, and caring for children regularly.

The fourth issue is the preservation of relics and street decoration. Minister Mai Tien Dung clearly stated that it is necessary to pay close attention to ensuring the landscape and urban order when the phenomenon of encroachment on roads and sidewalks, the use of foreign languages ​​on billboards, etc. still exists in many places.

Fifth, we need to pay close attention to the management of performing arts, when in 2016 there was an explosion of beauty contests from national to local levels. Along with that, there is the work of conferring titles on artists, considering giving awards to artists. “When poets like Xuan Quynh, Thu Bon… did not receive awards, there were opinions, public opinion was concerned, there must be explanations, reports, and reasons clearly stated. Then there was the phenomenon of conferring titles, posthumously conferring titles but not receiving immediate rewards. Then there is the need to prevent bribery, to be very fair and objective, even if there is none, there should not be any suspicion from public opinion,” the Minister said, emphasizing the need to pay attention to artists.

Minister Mai Tien Dung requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to explain and clarify the 6 overdue tasks and the 5 issues requested by the Prime Minister above in an objective and impartial manner. "If any issue is the responsibility of the Government Office, we will take the blame," the Minister frankly stated./.

According to VOV