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Pollution casts a cloud over development - Environment - VietNam News
The current stituation of environment pollution in Viet Nam
Environment pollution costs 3% of GDP in VN - News VietNamNet
Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily |
Half of Vietnam’s industrial sewage dumped into rivers untreated
Vietnam air pollution among the worst in the world | Tuổi Trẻ news
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Pollution casts a cloud over development
Police crackdown on an illegal gold mining spot in central Phu Yen Province. Addressing environmental pollution from mineral extraction activities is a key focus of Viet Nam's environmental protection resolution. — VNA/VNS Photo The Lap
HA NOI (VNS)— Industrial pollution and destruction of the environment continues to threaten the country's socio-economic development, experts have warned the government.
Pollution is forecast to increase by a multiple of three within the next ten years, and more alarmingly up to four or five times by 2025, according to findings released at a recent workshop set up to adopt a new government resolution on environmental protection.
Environmental experts at the workshop stressed that without appropriate measures to deal with the issue of waste management, this is the likely forecast for the nation.
They estimated that a total loss equivalent to 3 per cent of the country's GDP will result from ongoing and unchecked environmental pollution.
Apart from economic losses, environmental pollution also had a direct negative impact on people's health, they said.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen said the country believed in protecting and improving the environment, that some gains had been made, but the task ahead was still a daunting one.
"Many industrial zones failed to invest in building waste treatment systems, causing serious environmental pollution.
"Mineral exploitation was still booming in some localities without strict oversight or management from local authorities, making these mineral rich areas ‘hot spots' of environmental pollution," he said.
"The standard treatment of medical, household and industrial waste is still low and environmental pollution at craft villages and rural areas continues to increase," he added.
A representative from the environment and natural resources department in northern Nam Dinh Province said environmental protection was still a major headache, stating that many businesses operating in the province failed to implement their environmental protection commitment, while punishment mechanisms were not strict enough.
"In particular, there is a need for separate waste treatment facilities of different kinds to treat medical, household and industrial waste in urban areas separately, without this separation there is improper waste treatment," he said.
"The province is also facing environmental pollution from construction activities, agro-chemicals and the waste coming from metal recycling at craft villages," he added.
Environmental pollution has affected tens of hectares of land in the province which now could not be cultivated, while pollution related diseases such as cancer have also been recorded, he said.
To deal with these urgent environmental issues, the Government adopted Resolution 35/NQ-CP in March this year.
The environmental protection resolution focuses on seven measures to enhance waste management at industrial parks and other manufacturing hubs. It aims to improve the quality of strategies and assessments applied to plans and future development projects.
The resolution also specifically attaches importance to environmental protection where mineral extraction activities are undertaken, improving the conditions in rural areas and craft villages and gradually addressing environmental pollution in big cities and river basins.
The State's effectiveness and efficiency in its management of environmental protection were also targeted for improvement, along with the need for stricter control on scrap imports, and generally more effective protection of the nation's eco-system.
The resolution demands that responsible agencies increase the stringency of inspection and enforcement of environmental protection law at industrial parks and manufacturing clusters.
The agencies are now expected to suspend or ban the operation of enterprises that have made serious violations to environmental protection law, and make public their violations.
The Government is also requested to limit the use of agricultural chemicals and to more effectively control the collection and treatment of residual livestock feed, fertilisers and pesticides by introducing specific measures. The pollution caused by the solid waste discharged from rural areas which have a high concentration of livestock breeding activities is also to be tackled.
The responsible agencies must also look into managing pollution from transport vehicles and encourage mass transit and the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles. — VNS
The current stituation of environment pollution in Viet Nam
The current stituation of environment pollution in Viet Nam
10/6/2013 11:23:51 AM
In recent years, economic development has led to the increase in irrational use of natural resources and fuel as well as environmental pollution. Apparently, environmental pollution and economic development is a paradoxical development of the country.
Along with environmental pollution in mining, land environment is degraded due to the abuse fertilizers, pesticides, high-yield product development. It makes soils exhausting quickly, reduces soil fertility and degraded soils. The natural forests are destroyed, the quality of forests degrade, the areas of forest cover also decreased rapidly. Rich forests and primary forests accounts for a small number whereas secondary forests account for the majority of forest areas. The switch of using poor forests to grow industrial plants; green-cover bare lands and hills; develop industrial zones, hydroelectric, traffic structure, tourist bases and coastal cities have accounted for a large area of land and caused environmental pollution. These activities occupy an area of coastal casuarinas, breaking the natural guarding wall against storms and seawater. Floods, water logging seriously occurs partly due to natural disasters, climate change and partly due tohuman beings’ lack of awareness.
Environment water are seriously polluted due to cities and industrial zones’ waste containing hazardous materials. According toStatistics of Ministry of Planning and Investment (2006-2008) and survey data of Vietnam Environment Administration (October 2009), there are 223 industrial zones all over the country. However, there is only 32.7% of industrial zones using wastewater treatment systems (including industrial zones founded by the end of 2008). Including industrial zones in the capital construction by the end of 2008, there is43.3% of industrial zones using centralized wastewater treatment systems. Thus, at least there is 56.7% of industrial zones neglecting the waste water treatment of the entities in the areas under their management. If businesses invest in wastewater treatment systemsaccording to standards, they could not compete with others because the cost for this system will add at least 20% to production cost. The cost for wastewater treatment is too expensive, increasing production cost and affecting the competitiveness of businesses. The impactsand potential risks of industrial zones’ wastewater system on ecological environment have become more apparent. Wastewater fromindustrial zones is one of the main causes to the pollution of drainage area. Press and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmentof Vietnam have spoken about environmental pollution in Dong Nai River and Thi Vai River due to businesses (including Vedan) which have discarded chemicals without treatment.
Air, dust, noise pollution and solid waste containing hazardous substances are increasing. The increase in exhaust emission fromvehicles in cities, from industrial zones has direct impacts on the health of labors and surrounding communities. Waste and solid wastefrom the manufacturing facilities, industrial zones, residential areas is rarely collected and treated. According to regulations, all ofindustrial zones must have classified solid waste classification and transit area. However, in reality, there are only a few of industrial zones constructing this category. According to the Health Ministry, the total solid waste from health facilities throughout the country is about 300tons/ day, of which 40-50 tons is hazardous waste needs treating. There are 62.3% of hospitals, which do not have wastewater treatmentsystems. The modern incinerators achieving environmental standards only meet the need of 40% of hospitals, 60% of handcrafted burning.
Vietnam is among the top 10 countries in the world seriously affected by natural disasters. Every year, it is estimated thatVietnam has a total asset loss of approximately 1.5% of GDP, of which over 70% of the loss belongs to the central provinces.
According to the World Economic Forum, Vietnam currently ranks the bottom among the ASEAN countries in environmental sustainability.
Le Mai
Environment pollution costs 3% of GDP in VN - News VietNamNet
Environment pollution costs 3% of GDP in VN
Last update: 09:00 | 14/10/2013
Environment pollution costs 3 percent of GDP
Environmental experts have repeatedly warned of Vietnam’s vulnerability to repercussions from pollution and environmental degradation.
The ever-expanding gravity of the danger directly threatens national socio-economic achievements, despite strict regulatory efforts.
An October 11 seminar on environment protection in Hanoi heard that economic losses in industrial production and service provision, environmental pollution added the equivalent of 3 percent of GDP to the country’s 2010 healthcare bill.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen said Vietnam recognises the importance of sustainable development and environmental protection and it has sought out and received significant capital and technical support from international organisations.
But problems linger. Many industrial zones have not invested in proper wastewater treatment, polluting surrounding waterways, and pollution in rural areas and craft villages is also worsening.
The Government highlighted urgent environmental issues in an attempt to devise appropriate, effective responses and raise State management agency capacity.
These priorities include local planning, international cooperation, environmentally friendly infrastructure, and wastewater treatment facilities in urban and basin areas.
The seminar’s experts asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to address environmental issues as soon as possible, improve monitoring at industrial zones and complexes, raise the prominence of environmental impact assessments during planning, and highlight pollution’s dangers in rural areas, craft villages, big cities, and basins.
Vietnam should control waste material imports, prevent ecological degradation, and reform the State’s approach to environmental management.
Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily |
Half of Vietnam’s industrial sewage dumped into rivers untreated
A man walks by a fishing boat on Thi Vai, a tributary of Dong Nai River that is bounded by industrial factories in southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Saigon Tiep Thi
Rivers across the country receive 240,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage discharge everyday, or half the country's sewage waste output, because many factories don't have treatment plants.
A report released by the Ministry of Science and Technology at a meeting Friday showed that only 66 percent of 179 operating industrial zones are using or building wastewater treatment plants, and only around 58 percent of the daily discharge of 622,773 cubic meters is treated before reaching waterways.
Bui Van Quyen, head of the southern office of the ministry, said pollution from industrial zones has reached an “alarming point” as companies are either not interested in investing in a treatment plants or able to afford one.
Vietnam only had one industrial zone in 1963 in Dong Nai Province neighboring Ho Chi Minh City and the number has jumped to 289 at the present, though many are not operating yet.
Officials at the conference expressed concerns for waterways in the Mekong Delta, which is the target of industrialization in the coming years, as it currently bears 120 industrial zones over 25,000 hectares, and the figures are planned to double in 2020.
They said the delta, which has the most waterways in the country, might repeat the story of the southwestern industrial area that includes Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong Provinces.
A report issued November last year, after five years of tests, by Ho Chi Minh City authorities, showed that the Dong Nai River, the longest to run exclusively within Vietnam, and the Saigon River, are becoming “increasingly polluted” by heavy metals, oil, fecal bacteria and microorganisms.
The salinity in the conjoining rivers has also increased, the study said, blaming the large number of industrial parks in the neighboring Binh Duong and Dong Nai Provinces, as well as small factories and breeding farms in Ho Chi Minh City’s outlying Hoc Mon district.
As of the end of 2011, the Dong Nai River basin was home to 157 cooperatives, 12 craft villages and around 60 industrial zones, but only around one third of them treated their wastewater, while the rest dumped all their garbage directly into the river.
The Taiwanese MSG maker Vedan alone dumped 105 million liters of untreated wastewater into the Dong Nai River tributary Thi Vai through a secret pipe system between 1994 and 2008, when the scheme was uncovered.
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Vietnam air pollution among the worst in the world | Tuổi Trẻ news
Vietnam air pollution among the worst in the world
TUOI TRE
UPDATED : 05/02/2012 09:52 GMT + 7
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The quality of the environment in Vietnam has steadily dropped compared to other nations in the world, according to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which is compiled by prestigious global environmental centers.
The survey is coordinated by scientists from the environmental studies centers of Yale University and Columbia University in the US and in the European Union, who have carried out the research for years in 132 nations.
In the general environmental index, Vietnam is ranked 79th -- the lower part in the middle group. But on specific detailed criteria, Vietnam displayed even worse performance, including air quality with effects on human health, water, and environmental burden of disease.
At the alarming rate
Air quality in Vietnam is lagging among the ten worst nations in the world, ranking 123rd, and it is forecast that air pollution will continue to worsen in the near future and may fall to 125th place, according to the EPI survey.
This information, while alarming, is now new, as independent surveys by Vietnamese agencies have reached the conclusion that the country’s air pollution has worsened at a steady rate and has reached an alarming level, said Ph.D. Ngo Duc The -- a Vietnamese professor of the National University of Singapore.
Smoke and dust created by trucks are the main factors leading to the decline in air quality in Vietnam, especially in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The other important aspect of this ranking is water. Despite making improvements in the management of subterranean water and rivers over the past decade, Vietnam’s water quality is ranked 80th in the world by the EPI.
A fact worth further examination in water management is that Vietnam possesses a high potentiality of fresh water reserves thanks to its system of interlaced rivers and streams and canals, but locals have nonetheless endured the lack of water and low quality water on a daily basis.
A survey by the Vietnamese government announced in 2010 showed that only 40 percent of the population in rural areas had access to clean water supply.
In addition, the natural resources of fish and forestry products in Vietnam have also been declining.
Ph.D. Le Huy Ba, chief of the Institute for Environmental Management and Technology, added that environmental management in Vietnam has been even worse than stated in the report, as it excluded information on soil quality in Vietnam.
Land for agricultural purposes has been diminished recently for construction projects such as golf courses and new urban centers. The quality of ground has faced erosion, exhaust and pollution due to the use of diesel, organic and microbiological substances for farming, he added.
The ongoing trend of migration from rural regions to cities has also created risks and deteriorated the quality of the environment, Ba said.
The EPI survey classifies 132 nations into five groups. The first one includes ten nations, mostly in Europe, with good levels of performance.
Switzerland, Latvia, Norway, Luxembourg, France, Austria, Italy, the UK, Sweden and Costa Rica, in Latin America, are rated the nations with the best living environmental quality in the world.
The second group includes 36 nations, while the third group has 38 others ranked from 47th to 84th, the group that Vietnam is in. Countries ranked from 85th to 132nd belong to the other two last groups.
@NiceGuy
And You will see that you cannot eat money.
