Around 60 of 100 operational beach resorts in Phan Thiet in the central province of Binh Thuan have completed construction of wastewater treatment facilities at the provincial government’s request for environmental protection.

Le Thi Thanh Lien, deputy director of the province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the Daily on Wednesday, May 27 that almost all three- to four-star beach resorts in Ham Tien area have had their wastewater facilities coming online.

Many resorts in Hom Rom area are working on such facilities.

For the other resorts on the beach side of Hon Rom and Ham Tien, their wastewater treatment facilities must be up and running during the high season of international visitors or in September and October this year,” Lien said.

To deal with many hotels and resorts going without standard wastewater treatment facilities, the provincial government has ordered all the beach resorts to build wastewater treatment facilities meeting the national standards before December 30.

The province will get tough on those missing the deadline. However, since this is the high season of foreign visitors there, many resort companies have asked the province for approval to extend the deadline until this year’s low season.

Lien said the provincial government this year would focus on protecting the environment, especially cushioning the impact of the tourism sector’s development on the environment.

For this reason, the province will suspend the operations of those beach resorts delaying construction of wastewater treatment facilities until late this year.

“In fact, the province has suspended four resorts and imposed fines on six others in the year to date,” Lien said.

During the period, she said, the province has inspected 20 resorts and all of them have been found to break regulations on environmental protection. The provincial government has taken punitive sanctions against half of them and will similarly deal with the rest.

According to Lien, Binh Thuan has attracted around 900,000 tourists so far this year, up 8% compared to the same period of last year. Of them, 134,000 are international visitors, up 36% year-on-year.

Source SGT