NA Deputy Chairman orders clearer responsibilities and better coordination for fire prevention measures 

VIETNAM, May 14 - HÀ NỘI — Permanent Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn has asked the drafting agency to thoroughly evaluate and review the scope of fire search and rescue operations, along with fire prevention and fire fighting measures, to make clear who needs to take responsibility for coordinating, commanding and supporting in any emergency situation.

Mẫn requested the review at the 33rd working session of the Nation Assembly Standing Committee on Tuesday in Hà Nội, while presiding over a meeting to bring together ideas on the draft Fire Prevention Law.

He said that this was a very important legislative project, impacting socio-economic development, people's lives, and businesses, closely linked to ensuring social order and safety, protecting lives and property, so it needed to be carefully reviewed to urgently fix any shortcomings in the present situation.

Fires and accidents, such as the recent blazes in HCM City and Hà Nội, had directly impacted the lives of many in society, along with their property, so served as a valuable lesson in how important an issue this is to address, he said.

The drafting agencies had to continue to review, following the Party's guidance, especially Directive No. 47-CT/TW of the Party Central Committee on enhancing Party leadership in fire prevention and fighting work; Conclusion No. 02-KL/TW of the Party Central Committee on continuing effective implementation of Directive No. 47-CT/TW of the Party Central Committee.

Major General, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyễn Văn Long said that there would be supplementary provisions in the draft law covering which agencies and organisations would carry out the work of fire fighting and search and rescue, specifying specific tasks that functional forces perform in search and rescue work.

In addition, the practical requirements necessitated the urgent enhancement of measures to improve the effectiveness of State management in fire prevention and fighting.

Presenting its verification report, Chairman of the National Assembly's Defence and Security Committee Lê Tấn Tới said that based on the Party's direction, the drafting agency should combine practical experiences, with regulations on fire prevention methods and planning into the draft law to fit with national, regional and provincial planning.

Regarding fire prevention, there needed to be proposals to continue looking into how to best tackle any planning issues, through suitable solutions and designs; thoroughly assess the impact of regulations on fire safety conditions for housing, motor vehicles and facilities; study regulations on fire prevention, fighting conditions suitable for each type of facility, especially residential and commercial combined facilities.

Some thought that regulating the fire fighting and the search and rescue forces could be done separately; rearranging the organisation and activities of civil defence forces in fitting with the Party's direction, ensuring consistency with the Law on Forces Participating in Protecting Security and Order at grassroots level and ensuring the effectiveness of fire prevention, fighting, search and rescue activities.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vũ Hồng Thanh said that the draft law would assign many State management agencies to implement regulations on inspection and issuance of fire prevention and fighting certifications. "But there is no assignment or coordination between the agencies," he added.

To simplify the procedures in investment and business, regulations on inspection and issuance of fire prevention and fighting certifications needed to be changed to ensure they were also convenient for people and businesses, he said. — VNS