The Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to explain and clarify 7 issues.

Minister and Head of the Government Office (VGO) Mai Tien Dung said that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to explain and clarify 7 more issues, in addition to the 7 delayed tasks.

Minister and Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to explain and clarify seven overdue tasks, and at the same time explain and clarify seven other major issues. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

On December 21, the Prime Minister's Working Group led by Minister and Head of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung inspected the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the implementation of tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister.

Since the beginning of the year, the Government and the Prime Minister have assigned the Ministry 596 tasks, of which 501 have been completed, while 92 have not been completed (85 tasks within the deadline and 7 tasks overdue). At the same time, 2 projects have been withdrawn from the program, and 1 project has been assigned by the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Speaking at the opening of the working session, Head of the Working Group Mai Tien Dung said that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is the 13th unit inspected by the Working Group. With a large number of assigned tasks, the Ministry has made great efforts in implementing them, but needs to be more determined to meet the Prime Minister's requirements.

Through the Working Group, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to explain and clarify 7 overdue tasks, and at the same time explain and clarify 7 other major issues.

Firstly, the marine environmental incident in the four central provinces was a very unfortunate incident, causing huge damage. On December 15-16, the Working Group inspected Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, two of the four localities that suffered the most damage. The two localities destroyed all contaminated seafood, but there were still about 3,700 tons of seafood in stock, although not contaminated, but had been stored for a long time, and due to various reasons, some of it had deteriorated.

“The inspection team found it very heartbreaking, many storage facilities were not at -20 degrees Celsius, the fish were bruised and decomposed, it was very regrettable. The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect and consider the responsibilities of organizations and individuals related to the licensing of waste discharge, environmental impact assessment of the project... How far has this work been done?”, Minister Mai Tien Dung said.

The second issue is forecasting and warning. This issue is of great concern in the context of climate change, drought, saltwater intrusion, floods, etc., which have been very complicated in recent times. The current floods in the Central region alone have left more than 100 people dead and missing.

The third issue is the state management of the environment. We have put sustainable development first, not calling for investment at all costs, not trading anything for the environment. However, recently there have been many phenomena such as fish deaths in many places, pollution in craft villages, industrial clusters, waste discharge problems at projects, etc.

“The Prime Minister believes that this is a long-term task, but the management agency must take a very early stance on the above issues. The licensing process is in accordance with the procedure, but the important thing is the effectiveness of that process, which needs to be seriously considered,” Minister Mai Tien Dung conveyed the Prime Minister’s opinion.

Overview of the working session. Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Fourthly, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry's leaders to pay close attention to the issue of land policy, state management of land, especially the issue of land accumulation. We cannot carry out industrialization, cannot have high-tech agriculture if the land area is small and fragmented. The Ministry needs to soon propose mechanisms and policies for this issue. Along with that, pay attention to the issues that the press has reflected such as red books printed in large quantities but lying in the cabinets of local land officials, people having to pay unofficial fees to change their land use right certificates...

Fifth, the management of mineral resources is done quite well, but in some places, there is still a lack of transparency in the assessment of reserves of precious mineral mines, production, and processing, causing budget losses.

Sixth, recently the Prime Minister and the Government have given very strong direction on the illegal exploitation of sand and gravel on the river, causing landslides and affecting people's lives. The press has reported this issue a lot, but management is still not good.

The final issue is building a team of cadres, how to have a good team of cadres not only at the Ministry but also at the grassroots level. The majority of mass, complicated, and prolonged lawsuits are related to land, so in terms of expertise, cadastral cadres at the grassroots level are very important. Along with that, it is necessary to promote the application of information technology.

Minister Mai Tien Dung also requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to report on problems arising in the implementation of tasks so that the Working Group can synthesize and report to the Prime Minister.

According to Chinhphu.vn