Attending the Supervisory Delegation were the members of National Assembly’s Committee of Science, Technology and Environment, the representatives of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade. Working with the delegation were Ms. Do Thi Hai Yen – Chief of Office of Dong Nai Province’s National Assembly Delegation, leaders of some departments, Board of Management of Industrial Zones in Dong Nai Province, leaders of People’s Committee of Bien Hoa City, representatives of Environmental Police Department – Dong Nai Province Police and Sonadezi Corporation.
At the meeting, members of the supervising delegation asked many questions about the inspection and environment protection works at industrial zones in Dong Nai province, especially the wastewater and waste treatment of Sonadezi Corporation and other companies in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone.
Reporting to the supervision delegation about environmental protection activities in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone, Mr. Phan Dinh Tham – CEO of Sonadezi Corporation said “Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone was established in 1963 under the name Bien Hoa Manufacturing Zone. After April 30, 1975, the Government took over and changed its name to Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone. Its factories were mainly managed by ministries and departments. By 1990, Sonadezi Corporation was assigned to directly manage Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone that was under the seriously degraded situation of infrastructure and had no wastewater collection and treatment system.
In 2000, the Prime Minister assigned the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee, specifically Sonadezi Corporation, to renovate and upgrade the infrastructure of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone. However, right from its inception, the rainwater and wastewater collection system of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone was not completely separated, thus making it difficult to control the waste discharge of companies in the industrial zone. Therefore, Sonadezi Corporation invested in renovating and upgrading infrastructure, especially improving the collection and treatment of wastewater, separating the rainwater and wastewater collection system in the industrial zone.
Besides, Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone had about 77 companies (with 84 facilities) which operated in many industries such as construction materials, batteries, chemicals, packaging, foodstuff, sugar, etc. Most of the companies in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone had outdated technology. Every day those companies discharged more than 4,000 m3 of wastewater. There were 12 facilities licensed to discharge waste directly, while others were connected to the wastewater collection system of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone and transferred the waste to the wastewater treatment plant in Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone with the volume of more than 1,000 m3 per day. The remaining 3,000 m3 of wastewater was treated by licensed facilities according to standards and then discharged directly to Dong Nai river which caused difficulty in pollution control and high environmental pollution risks. Therefore, since 2009, based on the proposal of the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee, the Prime Minister agreed with the policy of converting the functions of Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone and relocating the companies operating here to protect the environment.
Reporting to the supervision delegation about the difficulties facing companies operating in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone during the implementation of the relocation policy, Sonadezi Corporation’s representative said “With the policy of changing function and relocation, companies in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone are currently operating in a state of moderation, waiting for relocation, having almost no technology investment or internal infrastructure upgrade in the factory. Meanwhile, the infrastructure company cannot boldly invest and upgrade the infrastructure to ensure strict environmental protection in Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone. It just can repair and maintain at a small level. Sonadezi Corporation also has a huge difficulty in signing an annex with customers and collecting land rent due at the new lease rate.
On February 27, 2014, the Prime Minister issued Document No. 206/TTg-KTN allowing the Provincial People’s Committee to approve the Project of converting Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Zone into an urban – commercial – service area in accordance with current regulations. Being assigned by the Provincial People’s Committee to write the Plan for the Project, Sonadezi Corporation managed to complete the draft of the Plan which proposed options and policies to support relocated companies. It focused on ensuring the rights and securing the support for companies and workers when moving to a new location. However, there is currently no specific legal document on supporting policies for companies in the industrial zone when relocating as well as many problems related to the selection of investors who are in charge of the Project remain unresolved. Thus, the project has not been approved by Dong Nai Provincial People’s Committee.
Sonadezi Corporation suggested the supervision delegation making proposals to the regulators regarding harmonizing Law on Natural Resources and Environment with the tax laws on preferential policies for the relocation of facilities causing environmental pollution. In addition, regarding the management and classification of sludge at the centralized wastewater treatment plant, Sonadezi Corporation also proposed delegation to consider and adjust Circular No. 36/2015/TT-BTNMT dated June 30, 2015 in alignment with Decree No. 38/2015/ND-CP dated April 24, 2015 to facilitate companies in the implementation process.
In conclusion, Mr. Tran Van Minh – Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Science, Technology and Environment, appreciated Sonadezi Corporation’s good implementation on environmental protection. Mr. Tran Van Minh affirmed that the recommendations of Sonadezi Corporation were completely appropriate. The delegation will study and work with the regulators to come up with a thorough and reasonable solution.
Regarding relocation policy, Mr. Tran Van Minh said that the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 33 with many contents related to policies and solutions on environmental protection, including the development of policies to support the relocation of facilities causing pollution from residential areas. Currently, the Government is formulating a policy to relocate and support the relocation of polluting facilities. The delegation will submit reports and proposals to accelerate the formulation and issuance of this policy.
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