At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, information related to the case of 74 people being prosecuted in the environmental monitoring index correction case received a lot of attention.
Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai - Deputy Director of the Department of Environment affirmed that the act of intervention and falsifying monitoring data is a violation of the law, of a sophisticated nature, which can be carried out through intervention in software, system configuration or data transmission process. Meanwhile, the current system is mainly designed to monitor environmental value and operating status, so intentional interventions or high-tech use have not been detected in some cases.
However, the law has control regulations such as sealing connection ports, managing access accounts, storing data, periodic inspections and controlled inspections, and through inspection, examination, and investigation activities of functional agencies, recent violations have been detected and handled according to regulations.
This incident has shown some limitations in the organization of implementation, mainly the stages of supervision, technical control and post-inspection have not kept up with practical requirements, especially in the context that the number of automatic and continuous monitoring systems is increasing rapidly, and the volume of data to be processed is very large. However, it is also necessary to affirm that this is not a legal loophole, but a matter that needs to be further tightened in the process of organization of implementation and control," Mr. Hai emphasized.
According to a representative of the Department of Environment, currently, the environmental monitoring system nationwide is still operating normally, continuously and is monitored in real time in accordance with regulations. Data from automatic monitoring stations is continuously transmitted directly to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, and at the same time connected to the Ministry to serve centralized management. In parallel with that, the law has also stipulated mechanisms to ensure data quality such as: technical requirements for the system before officially putting it into operation; periodic quality control once a month; periodic inspection, calibration, maintenance; and controlled monitoring to assess the accuracy of the system once a year.
After the incident, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment strengthened measures to review and ensure the reliability of data. In which, it requested localities to organize a comprehensive review of automatic and continuous monitoring systems, focusing on checking equipment configuration, data transmission and reception systems, sealing connection ports and managing system control accounts.
At the same time, strengthen surprise inspections, controlled inspections and data quality control, especially for establishments with signs of abnormalities. Coordinate and verify monitoring data through independent data sources and on-site verification inspections. Review and improve technical regulations in the direction of strengthening security, controlling access, storing original data and the ability to detect early illegal interference acts.
With the current regulations, the Ministry affirms that environmental monitoring data is strictly controlled, ensuring accuracy, objectivity and reliability in accordance with the law. This control is expressed through operating procedures and strict system control.
We clearly define the responsibility belonging to the system operating unit; at the same time, the management agency will further strengthen inspection, post-inspection and data control to ensure that the monitoring data is accurate and reliable," said the Deputy Director of the Department of Environment.
