Water transport vehicles carrying goods circulate on inland waterways. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport will conduct a comprehensive inspection, review, and propose guidelines for handling illegal waterway wharves.

According to a report by the Việt Nam Inland Waterways Department, there are a total of 5,553 inland waterway ports and wharves that have been announced, licensed, and are currently in operation. This includes 310 ports and 5,243 wharves.

Meanwhile, there are 1,900 unauthorised inland waterway ports and wharves, of which 991 have expired licenses and 909 operate without permission.

In the two provinces of Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang alone, there are 134 wharves with expired licenses that continue to operate without permission. Bắc Giang Province has 82 wharves located on the Thương-Lục Nam rivers and Cầu River, while Bắc Ninh Province has 58 wharves operating on the Cầu and Đuống rivers.

Despite implementing many measures to limit and handle unlicensed ports and wharves, the situation remains complex due to the existence of many wharves that are not under the department's management, said Bùi Thiên Thu, director of the Việt Nam Inland Waterways Department.

Some wharves have existed for a long time, Thu said, and the department’s inspection force lacks the authority to sanction administrative violations. So, they can only remind violators and make recommendations to local authorities on handling.

Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Transport has instructed the department to set up a comprehensive inspection plan for ports and wharves nationwide from July 1 to December 31 this year.

However, the ministry also noted that handling violations and suspending the operations of waterway terminals requires assessing the impact on transportation and proposing solutions to overcome challenges while creating favourable conditions for businesses.

The upcoming general inspection will help the ministry clearly assess the shortcomings and problems, thereby enabling the proposal of amendments and supplements to regulations and legal documents related to inland waterway activities, thus creating favourable conditions for the safe and sustainable development of water transport, Thu said. — VNS