Boom or bust: Hanoi pollution crises expose growth risks

HANOI: A major mercury leak, tap water contamination and “alarming” levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment.

Long tapped as an investors’ paradise thanks to its low-cost labor and pro-business policies, rapidly industrializing Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.

Buoyed by exports of cheaply made goods from Nike shoes to Samsung phones and H&M T-shirts, growth

percent for more than a decade.

But that has come at a cost, especially in major cities like Hanoi, the buzzing capital of more than 8 million people — and 13 industrial zones — that has been rattled by a series of environmental disasters.

August that saw a mercury leak and an

Then came a spate of bad air days

of major polluted cities list by Swissbased monitor AirVisual.

Now an estimated 1 million people are reeling from a contaminated tap water crisis after a brick factory was blamed for dumping oily sludge into a river that supplied several Hanoi neighborhoods.

“The government is prioritizing economic growth more than the environment,” said Do Thanh Huyen, an associate at Dezan Shira & Associates,

The water crisis — and the government’s slow response to it — sparked

many still relying on bottled water more than 10 days after the oil dump.

Residents reported pungent-smelling water coming out of taps and showerheads but it took authorities days to warn people not to drink or cook with it.

Local media reports it tested positive for styrene, an industrial chemical linked to some cancers.

A thick blanket of smog covers the Hanoi skyline as the sun sets. A major mercury leak, tap water contamination and ‘alarming’ levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment.

Three people have been arrested over the past decade — fuelled in in connection with the incident, but part by a rush of coal power plants some lay blame with the government — while carbon emissions have despite its promises to investigate. mushroomed as well.

“Authorities here lack transparency This, along with vehicle emissions, and professionalism, that’s why we don’t agricultural burning and construction dust have all added to poor air quality, and Hanoi frequently sees winter months reaching above average “unhealthy” AQI — air quality index — levels, according to AirVisual data.

Some fear Vietnam could go the way of industrialized Chinese and Indian megacities, where smoggy skies and face masks have become the norm.

“Hanoi doesn’t want to be another Beijing. We don’t want to be a paradise for people to discharge waste,” Huyen said.

But Vietnam could be heading on that track.

In 2016 more than 60,000 deaths were linked to air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.

Ngan, who sent her children out of her neighborhood to bathe during the crisis.

‘Another Beijing’

The mounting anger comes three years after a devastating toxic dump

central Vietnam and sparked months of protests across the country.

blamed for releasing chemical waste into the ocean.

But a Formosa executive said after the disaster Vietnam had to choose between growth and environmental safety.

Industrial output has steadily risen

The city’s liveability ranking is 107 out of 140 cities on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual index, behind Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur.

Hanoi’s standing is at “risk” because of its lack of action on environmental issues, said Pamela Qiu, Economist Corporate Network’s Southeast Asia director.

Business could also be hit. Dezan Shira warns in a report this month that “alarming” air pollution levels could turn off potential investors and recruiters

The reputational risk could be a problem for Hanoi authorities, eager to brand it as a cosmopolitan capital open to global leaders and world travelers, with

But for some hazy skies, garbagestrewn rivers and polluted tap water have already rendered Hanoi unrecognizable.

“Hanoi is no longer our Hanoi,” said Nguyen Vinh, a 65- year- old veteran born in the city.