Littering and smoking in public places: Laws exist as if they don't exist

(Baonghean) - Although a number of laws and decrees related to environmental protection and civilized behavior in public places have been issued and come into effect for a long time, violations still occur without warning. Some localities have not even been able to punish any cases; while many people do not know that there are regulations for punishment.

The law is like nothing.

On a late May day, at a large hospital in Vinh City, a group of patients’ relatives were casually lighting up a cigarette in the hallway. Behind them was a no smoking sign firmly attached to the wall. Seeing me raise my camera to take a picture, the group pointed and looked annoyed. “If you don’t smoke here, then you’ll smoke,” a young man in the group said, waving his hand to wave me away.

I told this story to a nearby security guard, who could only shake his head in disappointment. “I’ve talked too much, it’s tiring, so just leave it alone. Only when someone finds it too offensive do I come and remind them. Some people listen and put out their cigarettes and stop smoking, while others remain calm. But if I remind one person, another will come out to smoke. Anyway, that area is not near the patient’s room,” the old security guard said.

Patient's family smokes in hospital. Photo: Pham Bang

Also that day, in the afternoon at Nguyen Tat Thanh Park, a group of young men were urinating in Goong Lake. Some people were standing discreetly behind the bushes, but many young men were standing calmly by the lake, with children playing behind them. Nearby, several beer bars were open, crowded with customers. At a corner of the lake there was a drinking place, every minute or so someone came out to urinate, the stench was strong around the park. "We're drinking here, so we should go to the bathroom here for convenience, otherwise going to the bathroom at the bar would be cramped, and we might have to wait," said a young man named Toan. When I mentioned that according to regulations, this behavior could be fined up to several million VND, Toan affirmed: "That's not true. I've never seen anyone fined for urinating in the wrong place before."

Similar to smoking and urinating in public, littering is still common, especially in Vinh city. Despite the fine for this behavior, which can be up to 5-7 million VND, in areas such as Vinh market, people still casually throw trash right in front of the market gate, next to a sign prohibiting littering.

Lack of specialized forces

Discussing violations of regulations on civilized behavior in public places, Mr. Thai Giap Vinh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Le Loi Ward (Vinh City) said that normally, the inspection of these violations is done by urban officials. "Each ward only has one urban official, who will spend all day checking for public urination, posting flyers or littering? They are also busy with other work," said Mr. Vinh.

Regarding the situation of littering in the wrong place, Le Loi ward has recently organized a campaign. During a month of massive inspections, only 4 cases were discovered and handled. “Each case was fined under 1 million VND, which is not enough to cover the costs of paying neighborhood watchmen to work overtime. When we organized a campaign, they didn’t dump the trash, but when we returned, they dumped it again. As for smoking and urinating in public, the ward has not yet punished any cases,” Mr. Vinh shared.

According to the Chairman of Le Loi Ward, the problem is due to people's awareness of compliance, and at the same time, the conditions to ensure the law are still difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda as well as assign specific responsibilities to the team in charge of these issues. "The neighborhood watch is the right person to inspect and punish these acts, but according to the law, it is not allowed, it does not have the authority to make a record. Meanwhile, for these acts, a record must be made immediately after catching them red-handed, because we cannot detain or take the violators to the headquarters" - Mr. Vinh explained.

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Vinh, Mr. Ho Viet Thanh - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Binh Ward (Vinh City) said that currently, communes and wards do not have the force to inspect and punish this problem: "It is necessary to allow wards and communes to arrange a few specialized staff to solve the problem. Up to now, the ward has not been able to punish any cases of smoking, urinating in public or littering in violation of regulations". Meanwhile, Mr. Vo Tuan Anh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Doi Cung Ward (Vinh City) said that the ward has handled a person who urinated in public. "We discovered and took pictures. We said we would handle it, but we only asked them to write a self-criticism and commit not to repeat the offense, and at the same time propagate to many other people, without imposing any fines" - Mr. Anh said.

Tien Hung