Promoting investment and socialization in environmental protection

Waste collection and treatment contribute to environmental protection

Arranging budget for environmental protection

In the period 2022-2024, the province allocated a total budget of more than 478.4 billion VND from the state budget for environmental causes. Specifically, in 2022, nearly 156 billion VND, in 2023 nearly 165 billion VND and in 2024 about 158 ​​billion VND were allocated. This capital source focuses on activities such as collecting, transporting, treating solid waste, investing in environmental infrastructure and supporting localities in waste management.

The allocation and use of the budget must comply with the expenditure list, ensuring that it reaches at least 1% of the total local budget expenditure as prescribed. Thereby, contributing to significantly improving the environmental pollution situation in urban areas, industrial parks and concentrated residential areas.

In addition to the regular budget, the province also established an Environmental Protection Fund with an initial charter capital of 10 billion VND allocated from the environmental career budget. According to the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - Vo Minh Thanh, every year, this fund is supplemented from many legal sources such as environmental protection fees for wastewater, emissions, mineral exploitation activities; aid, sponsorship, voluntary contributions from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals; compensation for environmental damage and other sources according to the law.

Not only for technical support or budget allocation, the Environmental Protection Fund is also used to implement lending activities with preferential interest rates to encourage businesses to invest in environmentally friendly projects. In order to manage capital well, for the right purpose, for the right subjects, the work of checking and supervising the progress of loan projects according to each disbursement stage and the production and business situation of customers is enhanced.

Currently, projects with preferential loans from the Environmental Protection Fund have been completed and put into operation, contributing to positive changes in environmental protection work in the province. At the end of the loan period, the investor repaid the loan on time, there was no bad debt at the Environmental Protection Fund.

In addition, the Fund also has the function of receiving deposits for environmental improvement and restoration for mineral exploitation activities; environmental protection deposits for scrap imports and waste landfills. Up to now, the Fund has received and managed deposits of 82 mineral exploitation projects in the province with the managed deposit amount of more than 30 billion VND. Every year, it monitors, urges and proposes strict handling of acts of late payment or failure to pay deposits according to regulations.

Promoting socialization, reducing pressure on the state budget

In order to increase non-budgetary resources, the province actively promotes attracting socialized investment, especially in the field of solid waste and household waste treatment. Priority projects are models applying high technology, environmentally friendly to improve treatment efficiency and limit negative impacts on the community. This is considered an inevitable direction, contributing to reducing financial pressure on the budget and promoting green economic development.

According to the Provincial People's Committee, many key projects have been and are being implemented in the province. Specifically, the Waste Treatment Plant in Tan Dong Commune, Thanh Hoa District, Long An Province, invested by Tam Sinh Nghia Development Investment Joint Stock Company, has been put into operation, contributing to solving the amount of household waste in the area. The Thanh Hoa Waste Treatment Plant Upgrade Project aims to convert from traditional waste incineration technology to incineration power generation technology, while increasing the treatment capacity from 300 tons/day to 500 tons/day.

The Green Environment Technology Park in Tan Thanh Commune, Thu Thua District, invested by Vietnam Waste Treatment Company Limited, is being reviewed in scale and completing legal procedures before implementation. The Solid Waste Treatment Plant using incineration power generation technology with a capacity of 300 tons/day in Tan Dong Commune, Thanh Hoa District, invested by Tri Viet Energy Company Limited, is expected to form a modern waste treatment cluster, creating advantages in scale and technology.

These projects not only help effectively treat waste but also create jobs, contribute to the budget and raise public awareness in preserving the living environment.

Although important results have been achieved, attracting socialized investment in the field of environmental protection still has some limitations. Notably, the diversification of investment capital sources is not strong, the rate of attracting foreign-invested projects in the environmental sector is still low and most of them are still dependent on local budgets.

To overcome this, in the coming time, the province will continue to seek solutions to expand resources, strengthen cooperation, reform investment procedures, create an open environment to attract more domestic and foreign investors; at the same time, strengthen inspection and closely monitor environmental activities in industrial parks and clusters, ensuring economic development goes hand in hand with the protection of natural resources.

With continuous efforts in investment and socialization, the province has gradually built a synchronous and modern environmental treatment system, aiming at the goal of sustainable development and improving the quality of life for the people./.

By Le Duc - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/day-manh-dau-tu-va-xa-hoi-hoa-trong-linh-vuc-bao-ve-moi-truong-a196855.html