30% of Industrial Parks in Vietnam Have No Waste Treatment Facilities

More than 30% of over 1,000 industrial parks and industrial clusters in Vietnam are operating without waste treatment systems, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said. Up to 40% of 623,000 cubic meters of wastewater discharged in the industrial parks and clusters per day are untreated, the ministry said. To improve the situation, the ministry plans to install camera systems at the waste treatment facilities in the zones to better supervise the operation. Investigation results show that almost all companies operating in Vietnam equip with no waste treatment facilities and directly discharge wastewater to the environment. Local experts attribute the massive violations to low fines to violators. In fact, the companies choose to pay fines rather than install waste treatment equipment. Big foreign companies are not exceptions. Taiwan-based Vedan Vietnam Enterprise Corporation Limited was found discharging wastewater into Thi Vai river in southern Vietnam from its establishment in 1994 until 2008. (An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security Feb 25 p7)