According to the official if the focus remained solely on developing the economy at the expense of protecting the environment, the Tien, Hau and other rivers in the delta are likely to become dead rivers in the future. Many are blaming the booming aquaculture industry. Pham Thanh Van, deputy secretary of the Can Tho People’s Committee, expressed his views at a meeting on environmental pollution in the delta held in Can Tho City on Tuesday.
It is told in the meetings that a spate of serious environmental pollution problems have emerged as a fallout of the rapid development of industrial and agricultural production in the Mekong Delta in recent years. They said that illogical planning and improper use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides were worsening pollution problems in the delta.
The meeting was organised by the Tap Chi Cong San (Communist Review), the Can Tho City People’s Committee, the Can Tho City Party Committee and the Southern Institute of Science and Technology. To Huy Rua, head of the Central Commission for Publicity and Education, explained that there was an urgent need to carry out extensive research on the pollution problem so that proper scientific solutions can be identified.
Rua informed that this would also lay the ground for educating and raising awareness among local authorities and residents about the necessity for and means of protecting the environment. Many participants blamed the rapid development of industrial parks (IPs) and aquaculture expansion without proper zoning plans for the current situation. They told that the IP zoning plan for the delta had many logical fallacies, with many being set up near water sources critical for rice fields, orchards and aquaculture.
