A fire broke out at Rang Dong lightbulb factory on August 28 last year in Hanoi, releasing toxic air and mercury into the surrounding environment, resulting in a major scare for the entire city. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The relocation of factories posing risks of pollution fromresidential areas was necessary and more public space should be created, heardparticipants at a seminar held in Hanoi on July 23.
The resultsof a survey conducted by the People’s Participation Working Group (PPWP)revealed that 98.49 percent of interviewees supported Hanoi’s decision to movepolluting factories from residential areas.
The survey,run in May and June this year, interviewed 152 people residing in Hanoi tocollect their opinions on public space and the relocation of factories.
Nearly 60 percentof those surveyed said their living space was affected by the operation offactories, while 80.5 percent said they were affected by toxic air pollution,said Le Quang Binh, President of PPWP
Some 92 percentof interviewees said public space was important to their lifestyles and 79 percent saidpublic space in the city has failed to meet demand.
A fieldsurvey of PPWG at 39 factories that must be relocated in Hai Ba Trung and ThanhXuan districts revealed only 21 had been relocated.
Under aplan approved in 2016, 117 facilities must be relocated from 12 innerdistricts by 2020, according to a report from the Hanoi People’s Committee.
However,relocations are at a standstill due to problems securing capital forrelocation and lack of favourable policies for using land in the most effectiveway.
A fire thatbroke out at a warehouse of Rang Dong Light Source and Vacumn Flash JointStock Company in Thanh Xuan district’s Ha Dinh street on August 28 last yeardrew public attention to the issue.
A reportthat 27kg of mercury might have been leaked into the surrounding residentialareas after the fire raised concern over contamination and forced manypeople living in its vicinity to move out of their homes.
The fireserved as a wake-up call, prompting city authorities to fast-track therelocation of industrial manufacturers.
Nguyen ThiHoa, 74, a resident in Ha Dinh street, said locals have been suffering fromserious pollution due to heavy smoke discharged from three industrial plantsnamely Sao Vang Rubber JSC, Thang Long Tobacco company and Rang Dong light bulbfor many years.
“We havesent complaints to relevant agencies many times but nothing has been improved,”he told Vietnam News.
The surveyby PPWG pointed out that most surveyed people want factories which pose risksto the environment to be replaced by parks or flower gardens (93 percent) whilemany of them want to use the land for building health and education facilities.
According toDinh Dang Hai, an expert from HealthBridge Foundation of Canada in Vietnam,public space in Hanoi is very limited.
Overallpublic space per person in Hanoi is only 3 square metres and as low as 30square centimetres in Hoan Kiem district.
“There is abig gap for Hanoi to meet the standard of public space [5 square metres perperson] compared to other cities in the world,” he said.
Pham ThuyLoan, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Architecture,agreed, saying urban design was a field which mainly focused on the quality ofurban space for people. Therefore, public space must be easily accessible.
Shesuggested the city should take advantage of existing parks and green trees toincrease green space.
It wasessential to change the purpose of unused land, especially after factoriesrelocation, she said, adding that priority should be given to the developmentof green trees and public space to improve the people’s living condition, Loansaid./.
VNA
