HÀ NỘI  — The Government will not accept resignations from officials under investigation, according to the Law on Officers and Public Servants, said Mai Tiến Dũng, Chairman of the Government Office regarding the resignation recently submitted by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Hồ Thị Kim Thoa.

At a press conference held after a monthly Government meeting on Thursday, Dũng said the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission proposed agencies consider striping Thoa of her titles.

If the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat agrees with the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission, Thoa will have all her current positions striped.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc will assign Minister of Home Affairs and Party Delegation to Ministry of Industry and Trade to carry out the stripping.

On July 31, the Party Delegation to the Government received a report about Thoa’s resignation letter.

Earlier, on Monday, the Party Central Committee’s Inspection Commission issued a warning to Thoa for “serious violations” when she was Party Committee secretary and director of former State-owned Điện Quang Lamp Company (later Điện Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company) from January 2004 to May 2010.

Environment and economic profits

Development must be in tandem with environmental protection, said Trần Hồng Hà, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment at the press conference on the dumping of one million cubic metres of sludge from Vĩnh Tân thermal power plant into the sea.

The investor has prepared a full report into the dumping, with the ministry responsible for verifying the information and accounting for the concerns of the public and experts, he said.

Hà said the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography published an independent assessment on the environment as a foundation to assess the impacts of dredging and sinking.

The Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology also established an independent council of scientists and will assess the issue, according to Hà.

The Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology must identify a scientific foundation to ensure the 70-year development of Vĩnh Tân thermal power plant, the minister said.

He said that coastal area landslide prevention also requires studies as these activities may affect the environment and economy.

On June 23, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment granted a licence to the Vĩnh Tân 1 Thermal Power Plant to sink one million cubic metres of sludge near the Hòn Cau Marine Protected Area, one of 16 such areas in the country.

The Hòn Cau Marine Protected Area contains a 2km long coral reef and 234 kinds of coral, home to many rare marine species. — VNS