HCM City People\'s Committee has asked relevant agencies to strictly punish polluting factories in Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park and surrounding areas in Binh Chanh District.
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| Wastewater from Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park |
The deputy chairman of the city People\'s Committee Nguyen Huu Tin told the agencies to conduct immediate inspections of the industrial park and its surrounding area.
Last week, officials of the city People\'s Council\'s Economic and Budget Division met with industrial park authorities and residents in the area to discuss problems related to water and air pollution.
Residents in Tan Nhut, Binh Loi and Le Minh Xuan communes said the pollution was caused by wastewater, dust, fume and noise from factories and workshops in the park and other industrial shops near the park.
Residents said that many shops escaped fines because they ceased their pollution-causing activities shortly before inspections, making it difficult for the authorities to discover violations.
The 100-ha industrial park has 159 production establishments, while the 17-ha area surrounding the park has 127.
The industrial park and surrounding areas are considered the most polluted places in the city.
Huynh Thi Kim Xuyen, deputy head of the Binh Chanh Natural Resources and Environment Office, said the district was authorised to manage industrial clusters, while the Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park was managed by the city Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zones Authority (HEPZA).
Xuyen noted that wastewater from production establishments in Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts are released into the upper stream of canals that run into Binh Chanh District.
Nguyen Van Truong, deputy chairman of the Binh Chanh District People\'s Committee, said the district had 18 lightly polluted canals and seven severely polluted canals because of wastewater released from the canals\' upper areas and from Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park.
However, he said district agencies did not have the authority to carry out random inspections inside the park.
