HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Several marinechannels like Cua Lo and Sa Ky in the central provinces of Nghe An and QuangNgai and Thi Vai in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau have notbeen dredged in years because authorities have been unable to identify dumpingsites to dispose of the sludge after dredging.

Ha Hoang Viet Phuong, Director of Quang Ngai province’sDepartment of Transport, said hundreds of vessels enter and leave Sa Ky Portevery day, but two vessels cannot enter and leave at the same time because thechannel is too shallow.

The province plans to dredge Sa Ky Port nextAugust but authorities are still looking for sites to dump the sludge dredgedfrom it, Phuong said.

According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration,the Northern Vietnam Maritime Safety Corporation (VMS North) sought permissionto dump sludge in the sea after dredging the Hon Gai – Cai Lan channel lastJuly. But, after considering it, the Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment said VMS North had to find dumping sites on land.

But last year, Nghe An province’s authoritiespermitted the disposal of sludge from the Cua Lo navigation channel in the sea,but the dredging work has been delayed by paperwork.

A spokesman for the Cai Mep International Terminal(CMIT) said Cai Mep Port handles cargo bound for Europe every week, but mostimports and exports are transhipped through another country because largevessels (with 18,000-22,000 TEUs capacity) require a draught of more than 14metres while Cai Mep Port is only 12 metres deep.

CMIT representative said the port has been unableto get permission despite several attempts to dump the sludge at sea, and thishas delayed the port dredging work.

An alternative plan by the Vietnam MaritimeDepartment to dispose of the sludge on land requires many formalities relatedto environment protection to be completed.

Do Minh Hai, Director of the Quang Ngai ProvinceDepartment of Natural Resources and Environment, said the dredging of Sa KyPort has yet to begin because of environmental issues related to the dumping ofsludge afterward.

The dumping spot that was identified was some5 kilometres offshore and three to 7km from the dredging site.

But Quang Ngai authorities suspended the projectdue to concerns the dumping could pollute nearby My Khe beach.

The Ministry of Transport admitted there are noplans for dumping sites.

Nguyen Van Can, head of the Sea and IslandsDivision at the Hai Phong Department of Natural Resources and Environment, saidwith over 40 ports in operation, the city has to dredge about 3million cubic metres of sludge from navigation channels every year.

But authorities cannot permit the dumping ofsludge at sea, and this has to be done on land, he said.

Ta Dinh Thi, Acting General Director of theVietnam Sea and Island Department, said the need to identify dumping sites atsea has become an “urgent issue” across the country.

However, a plan for this is set to be approved bythe National Assembly not earlier than 2020, he added.-VNS/VNA