[enviro-vlc] Vietnam to Strictly Treat Environmental Violation Like Vedan This Year

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: [vnnews-l] ENV: Vietnam to Strictly Treat Environmental Violation Like 
Vedan This Year
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 13:38:34 -0800 (PST)
sent to vnnews-l by Stephen Denney <sdenney at OCF.Berkeley.EDU>


  Vietnam News Briefs: Health & Environment: Vietnam to Strictly Treat
Environmental Violation Like Vedan This Year
Vietnam News Briefs (Vietnam) - Friday, February 6, 2009
from the VIETNAM NEWS BRIEFS, February 06, 2009 Vietnam will clamp down
all environmental violators like Vedan this year, Minister of Natural
Resources and Environment, Pham Khoi Nguyen told the press meeting Feb 5
in Hanoi, state media said Friday.

"Boosting production, generating jobs while protecting environment is a
tough task, therefore, the ministry is taking the issue into account
carefully," said Nguyen.

In 2009, the ministry will focus on solving "hot" problems of land-use and
management, environmental pollution and hydro-meteorological forecasting,
the minister added.

Statistics from the ministry showed that over 100 industrial parks and
many handicraft villages are dirtying environment in Vietnam.

Nguyen said that Vedan Vietnam has to date paid some VND63.5 billion
($3.75 million), or haft of the environment protection arrears in
environmental fees worth VND127 billion ($7.7 million) and removed three
underground drainage systems to the southern river of Thi Vai. (HCMC Law
Feb 6 p6, Young People p2, Vietnam Agriculture p15) Copyright 2009 Vietnam
News Briefs
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