Hanoi authorities will ban or limit investment in ec onomic and
industrial zones that have failed to install waste-water treatment
systems, the municipal People’s Committee has said.
The ban
followed a request by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai who is
concerned about environmental pollution of the surroundings, including
water supplies and good farm land.
In a document sent to
departments, People’s Committee Vice-chairman Nguyen Ngoc Tuan asked the
municipal Department of Planning and Investment to work with other
agencies to study specific measures and report to the committee.
He
also asked the Department of Industry and Trade and management boards
of industrial and processing zones to tell investors to promptly
complete sewage-treatment systems and connect them to factories
operating in the zones.
Local authorities responsible for
industrial zones have also been told to speed up inspection of
environmental protection measures.
Figures from the Department
of Industry and Trade show that as many as 107 industrial clusters are
under construction in the province. Of the 42 industrial zones and
clusters in operation, only 25 have the required sewerage systems.
The
Hanoi People’s Committee has approved a plan to force all industrial
zones to use waste-water treatment systems, including assistance from
city funds.
The systems will be built at seven industrial clusters this year, and at nine more next year.-VNA