The Vietnam-US Joint Advisory Council on Agent Orange announced that the environmental remediation and treatment project at Da Nang airport will be completed within the next 4 years.
Ms. Jennifer Orme Zalaveta, co-chair of the seventh annual press conference of the Vietnam-US Joint Advisory Council on Agent Orange on September 21. Photo: Minh Long.
The seventh annual press conference of the Vietnam-US Joint Advisory Council (JAC) on Agent Orange/dioxin took place in Hanoi on September 21.
Speaking at the press conference, Dr. Jennifer Orme Zalaveta, director of the US National Exposure Research Laboratory and co-chair of the JAC press conference, announced that the US side had awarded the contract for the environmental remediation and treatment project. at Da Nang airport. The project will be implemented after the 2013 rainy season and will be completed in 2016. Ms. Zalaveta affirmed that efforts to overcome dioxin consequences in Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat district (Binh Duong) have achieved some results. significant results.
"One of the most important achievements in recent years is the project to clean up dioxin in soil at Da Nang airport of the US Agency for International Development," Ms. Zalaveta commented.
Representatives of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) affirmed that they will provide 9 million USD in the next three years to support and treat people with disabilities for all causes. The US will also directly provide treatment services, job creation, training, and vocational skills training for people with disabilities or those infected with Agent Orange.
Dr. Le Ke Son, General Director of the Office of National Steering Committee 33 under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that during the meeting on September 20 and 21 of JAC, the two sides emphasized the importance of cooperation between the US and Vietnam in efforts to remove Agent Orange at Da Nang airport. According to Mr. Son, the JAC side has affirmed that they will fulfill their responsibilities and that the Ministry of National Defense is doing exactly what it committed to.
Since 1980, the Vietnamese government has proposed specific plans to deal with the remnants of Agent Orange/dioxin, such as establishing a Committee under the Ministry of Health to assess the impact of this poison. for humans and the natural environment. Then in 1999, Steering Committee 33 was established to direct the work of overcoming the consequences of this poison. The government has invested 6.25 million USD to clean up dioxin and annually subsidizes 50 million USD for people with disabilities caused by Agent Orange/dioxin.
To strive to fundamentally handle the consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin by 2020, Steering Committee 33 has developed a National Action Plan to submit to the government for consideration and approval, VNA reported. The plan includes 5 contents: Detoxification of dioxin hot spots; prevent people from being further exposed to dioxin; support people living near dioxin hot spots; upgrade disability services and conduct long-term research.
Source : http://vnexpress.net
