The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will propose the Vietnamese National Assembly gradually increase spending on environmental protection to at least 2% of the state budget by 2015 from the current 1%, state media reported. The information was released at a press conference in Hanoi July 17 on the ministry’s plan to be carried out in the last six months of this year. Under the plan, the ministry will enhance the control on environmental pollution and the import of scraps and second-hand ships as well as zone mineral reserves for some key minerals and pilot auctioning mineral resources. The ministry will revise a draft law on Land and urge local authorities to speed up the granting of land use rights certificates to local people. Currently, most enterprises in Vietnam, both foreign and domestic ones, are ignoring the government’s environmental protection regulations due to lax management and lenient fines on violators, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said in a recent survey. Vietnam’s economic growth over the past years has caused serious environmental pollution, Minister Bui Quang Vinh said, adding that “We cannot sacrifice environmental protection for any price. It’s high time the government built a green economy for sustainable development.” Last year, nearly 10,000 environmental violation cases were uncovered in Vietnam, up 27% on year, with 284 cases and 423 people prosecuted. Many of the worst polluters were foreign-invested firms. (Sai Gon Giai Phong – Saigon Liberation July 19 p2)
