Environmental police forces in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City have imposed a total fine of over VND12 billion ($574,000) on 300 enterprises for polluting the environment so far this year. Most of the polluters were said to discharge wastewater and exhaust fumes five to tens of times beyond the permitted levels and to illegal handle toxic wastes, severely threatening the environment and health of local residents. To date, the polluting firms continue to flaunt environmental regulation, refuse paying penalties and overcoming any damage caused by their wrongdoings, a local official noted. The southern metropolis has several companies who are disregarding environmental regulations and leading to serious pollution to residential areas surrounding Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park in Binh Chanh district, Tau Hu and Tham Luong canals in district 12, Binh My and Tan Thanh Dong communes in Cu Chi district. In fact, more and more both domestic and foreign enterprises have been found discharging toxic waste and wastewater into the environment in Vietnam, experts said, blaming lenient fines for their violations. They added that companies would rather just pay the punishments than build a treatment system because the latter is doubly expensive. Under the current law, environmental violators only face a maximum fine of VND500 million or even face criminal proceedings depending on the level of their infringement. The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security’s Environmental Crime Police Department has uncovered 11,224 violations of Environment Protection Law nationwide, collecting a total environmental fee of VND135 billion over the last five years. (Sai Gon Giai Phong –Saigon Liberation Nov 14, vov.vn Nov 14)
