Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy chair of Quang Ninh province, has instructed the provincial Department of Natural Resources and the Environment to examine the pollution level caused by the cement and clinker plants to find reasonable solutions.
The step follows dust pollution issues caused by cement and clinker plants located at the Cua Luc river head. They ship their product out via Cai Lan International Port, one of five seaports in Vietnam which also handles car imports. The car trade has protested against the cement shipments as the dust is damaging the car paint, particularly when it mixes with rainwater. It takes importers 10-12 days on average to follow necessary procedures, long enough for cement and clinker dust to spoil the cars’ colour and cover the interior with dust.
Many car importers plan to import cars through other ports instead of Cai Lan because of problems in transport infrastructure, tax policies, and dust from cement and clinker plants. But the dust problem is not restricted to just Cai Lan Port. A car importer said that the thick dust from the Ha Long and Thang Long Cement plants has also been spoiling the paint of cars stored at the Quang Ninh Port.
