Ben Tre to step up moving polluting facilities out of town

On December 27, 2007, the Steering Committee for the Project to move polluting production and trading facilities out of BenTreTownship met for a wrap-up conference of 2007 and to lay out plans and tasks for 2008. The meeting was presided over by Mr Nguyen Quoc Bao, Vice Chairman of Ben Tre's People's Committee, who chairs the body.
 

At the meeting, representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment assessed that the Project had been lagging too far behind the planned pace. The most of the works are now only at the starting point. Unfulfilled tasks include totalling up of actual polluting facilities that have been in the list to remove; introduction of proper waste water treatment model; the publicization of the Project in Ben Tre Township and to all those that are subject to implementing of the Project, which is later reported to the Provincial People's Committee for decision.

For polluting units and business concerns that are to be removed, responsible agencies had proposed some solutions but there's been no action yet from the Steering Committee. One of the reasons is the lack of land space for those units to move in. For example, there's not enough land space in the GiaoLongIndustrial Park for the Ben Tre Cigarette Factory to move in. Others are blocked because the Binh Phu Industrial Complex, BenTreTownship - where many units are promised with land spaces to move in – is still in the planning phase.

For local treatment of pollution, Ben Tre Department Natural Resources and Environment said that it had signed a contract with Ho Chi Minh City's University of Industry to build a model of waste water treatment for coconut candy and coconut meat manufacturers. This model has a volume of 5 cubic metres, costing about VND 40 million.

In conclusion of the meeting, Mr Nguyen Quoc Bao set the targets for the Steering Committee to do in 2008, as followings:

• List the exact number of, and classify the polluting units that are possible to treat locally or to remove, at the same time listen to corporate difficulties so that the Finance Department can make budget estimates for assistance.
• Carry out broad propaganziation on the media to make production units fully awared of the environment pollution items such as waste water, solid waste, rubbish, noise, dust and smoke.
• Check up the efficiency of the model for local treatment of waste water.
• Meet and talk with polluting production units to announce the timing of the Project, at the same time to give technological advice, and lend money to business units to treat pollution.

Translated by Tuyet Anh.