Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment has asked agencies to comment on its special projectto control companies thought to be likely of polluting the environment - evenindustries not yet in operation, such as power plants. 

Tran Hieu Nhue from the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature andEnvironment said the project was imperative, especially after the massive deathof fish in the central provinces in 2016.

"When we clearly name producers at high risk ofpolluting the environment, it is easier to force them to fix thesituation," he said.

Dau Anh Tuan, Director of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry’s legal department, said producers would only be named if the threatwas scientifically based.

Tuan added that the assessment should include criteria on howproducers had followed regulations on environmental protection in the past.

“This will provide motivation for producers to actively obeyregulations to avoid being added to the strict-supervision list,” he said.

Under the draft project, 28 major producers - even those notyet in operation - have been listed on the special control list.

The producers, stretching from Lao Cai to Tra Vinh province,include the Lao Cai diammonium phosphate (DAP) No2 Plant under the VietnamNational Chemical Group (Vinachem); An Hoa Pulp and Paper Mill in Tuyen Quang province;Nam Son Waste Treatment Complex in Hanoi; the Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa HaTinh Steel Corporation; the Bauxite-Aluminum Tan Rai - Lam Dong Complex; the VinhTan Power Centre in Binh Thuan province; the Nhan Co Aluminum Factory in Dak Nongprovince; the Vietnam Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Limited in Hau Giang provinceand the Duyen Hai Power Centre in Tra Vinh province.

Ministerial concern arose after a range of environmentaldisasters occurred, causing serious damage to the environment. The biggestincident was the mass poisoning of fish off the coast of the central provincein April 2016, Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

Hoang Van Thuc, deputy head of the Vietnam EnvironmentAdministration, said the ministry had selected 16 types of producers at highrisk of polluting the environment.

They encompass metallurgy, thermo-electricity, mining and theprocessing of metallic minerals using toxic chemicals, paper-pulp production,fabric and yarn dyeing, plating, latex processing, cassava processing, cementproduction, chemical and pesticide fertiliser production, petrochemical,leather tanning, seafood processing, sugarcane processing, battery manufactureand waste treatment.

“After the fish wipe-out in central coastal provinces, theministry recognises that we must not be in a passive situation again,” Thucsaid.

According to Thuc, of 28 major producers, several are stillon trial operations and some have been under construction. 

For example, five factories belonging to Vinh Tan PowerCentre in Binh Thuan province have been placed under strict supervision. Only VinhTan 2 Thermal Power Plant is in operation, the other four plants are stillunder construction.

In Tra Vinh province, four factories of the Duyen Hai PowerCentre have been listed on the strict-supervision checklist. Only Duyen Hai 1Thermal Power Plant is in operation, the two others are under construction andanother has yet to be built.

The project will be submitted to Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc for approval after the ministry finishes collecting comments.

Minister Tran Hong Ha said the project would help to shiftthe mindset of protecting the environment at the end of the “wastewater pipe”to protecting the environment at the beginning of the “wastewater pipe”.

“The idea of producing products first and protecting theenvironment later should be eradicated,” he said.-VNA