HCM CITY — Municipal authorities have expressed their determination to relocate 141 polluting factories from inner city areas, but many have said they lack capital and sufficient land to make the move.
The city's plan to remove polluting factories to outlying districts was initiated in 2007. The factories were selected for relocation based on the level of pollution caused and the type of waste released.
However, in a meeting with 24 districts late last month, the city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment asked that they also consider the capacity of the locality to endure pollution.
Among the 141 polluters, the city has stopped operations of 88 factories and facilities, 34 are in the process of removing their assets, and the remaining 19 have not yet stated the time and duration for their move.
In a new development, local authorities in outlying districts have reported that factories moving from inner city areas tended to locate themselves in unplanned industrial zones.
According to the Department of Trade, the city has 12 unplanned industrial zones that have no waste treatment systems, four of which are located in Cu Chi District.
In District 7, the Phu My Zone has 23 facilities providing ship repair and logistics services like warehousing, while the 28ha Binh Dang Zone in District 8 has 57 firms operating in it.
Both these zones have no management boards or pre-built basic infrastructure, and this is also true of the Tran Dai Nghia, Tan Tuc, Pham Van Coi and Hiep Binh Phuoc zones in the districts of Binh Tan, Binh Chanh, Cu Chi and Thu Duc, respectively.
Meanwhile, the 19 companies with polluting factories in the inner districts that are yet to plan their relocation have cited several reasons for their failure.
While Gia Dinh - Phong Phu and Sai Gon Textile have said they do not have the capital needed to move, Sai Gon Agriculture said their efforts to relocate had been thwarted by local residents despite the company's commitment to preserve and protect the natural environment.
The Ngoi Sao Company Ltd in District 8 has found itself in a similar predicament with local residents at the proposed destination opposing the company's relocation to their area.
The company said it could not afford a site in the planned IPs.
Lam Tan Dung, deputy president of Nam Do Finance Leasing Company, said financial support for the relocating companies should be based on the scale of their operations.
His company had bought several relocated factories and sold them to investors after finding a new location for them, he said.
The Government has twice – in 2003 and 2005 – asked HCM City to remove polluting factories out of inner districts.
Dung said there was no use trying to convince relocating companies to put up their inner district sites for others to bid on and take over because of their high real estate value. —VNS
