Some Japanese cargo ships refused to dock at a southern Vietnamese port, fearing the polluted water would corrode their hulls, the media reported a few days ago.

The reports are scary: If steel hulls are at risk of erosion, what will happen to people’s flesh and stomachs?

Each province has an elaborate environmental protection regime but it has taken a Japanese passerby to blow the whistle on the filthy state of the port.

The ignorance of the Vietnamese agencies has been outrageous.

But come to think of it, this is not the first instance.

The water in Hanoi’s To Lich River is now black, thick and sticky after years of pollution; many rivers in the south have become so polluted that fish die en masse; illegal loggers have ravaged rainforests nationwide; and the term “cancer villages” no longer sounds strange.

Most recently, a shipyard in Khanh Hoa Province almost dumped more than 100 tons of waste near a residential area when the police found out.

There are lots of such reports in the media but nothing has changed.

If ships can be corroded by polluted waters, how can tourists feel comfortable enjoying the “hidden charm” of our country? If waste continues to be dumped in Khanh Hoa, calling the beach town of Nha Trang a tourist destination would be ridiculous.

With an environment so polluted even as the country just begins to industrialize, what hope is left for us in the future?

The solution is not new or difficult: polluting businesses must pay heavy fines and/or be stripped of their licenses.

State environmental agencies that neglect their responsibility must also face harsh penalties.

Economic growth is not a goal to be achieved at any cost.

Source: Thanh Nien Daily