VietNamNet Bridge - Gaps in the law on environmental protection need to be addressed to curb pollution caused by investment projects, said experts and officials at a conference reviewing the environmental situation in the first half of the year yesterday.

Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, cited the Formosa case as a typical example. He said the current law requires investors to submit environmental impact assessment before licensing is ineffective.

In the case of Taiwanese investor Formosa, the report on environmental impact assessment was too general and was made to fulfill investment procedures, Ha said.

On that basis, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment suggested the Government change the rule on the environmental impact assessment report.

Accordingly, the report will be made and submitted to authorities before they consider granting a construction licence because only when the detailed design of projects is available would investors have grounds to assess the project’s impact on the environment.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said that pollution was increasingly serious in Vietnam. He stressed the direct discharge of untreated, toxic waste water to lakes, ponds, rivers and sea of production facilities.

Dung asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to immediately review the law and policies on environmental protection to fill the gaps in the law.

"Only projects with standard waste treatment facilities are licenced. All environment-related violations must be strictly punished, without any exception. The serious cases can be transferred to the police for criminal investigation," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Regarding the Formosa case, Dung asked the relevant agencies to continue monitoring the implementation of the measures to deal with the consequences of the disaster.

More importantly, the conclusion on the safety of marine environment in the central Vietnam must be released soon to assure local people. If necessary, Vietnam will ask for assistance from international scientists.

"The conclusion must be released at an official press conference, on a scientific basis," Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked.

In the Formosa case, fish died en masse in Ha Tinh province on April 6. The phenomenon spread to Quang Binh on April 10, Thua Thien - Hue on April 15 and Quang Tri on April 16.

Fish continued to die in large volumes in Ha Tinh Province on April 6-7, in Quang Binh province on April 14-15, in Thua Thien - Hue Province on April 16-17 and in Quang Tri Province on April 18-19.

From April 24 to 26, along with the return of the mass fish death phenomenon in Ha Tinh was the appearance of an odd current of brown water along the cost. On May 4, reddish-brown water was reported running along the coast of Quang Binh.

After months of investigation, the authorities concluded that Taiwanese group – Formosa, the investor of the giant Ha Tinh Formosa Steel project in Vung Ang, Ha Tinh – caused the disaster. Formosa had to apologize and pay compensation of $500 million to the people in the four central provinces.

Tran Cham