Strong decentralization to local management of inland waterways

According to the draft decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic, the People's Committees at the commune level are given additional authority in agreeing on technical specifications for the construction of inland waterway wharves, cross-river passenger wharves and announcing the opening/closing of temporary works.

Commune-level People's Committees are given additional authority in managing inland waterway traffic activities.

According to the draft Decree detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Inland Waterway Traffic (replacing Decree No. 08/2021/ND-CP) which was recently sent by the Ministry of Construction to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal on July 4, management authority in this field is strongly decentralized to People's Committees at all levels.

Applicable subjects include all organizations, individuals and watercraft related to inland waterway activities in Vietnam.

Specifically, the Ministry of Construction is responsible for promulgating national technical regulations on inland waterway signaling in Vietnam, organizing the management and maintenance of inland waterway infrastructure under the Ministry's management, regulating the classification of technical levels of inland waterway channels, publishing the list of national channels, and detailing many contents on management, maintenance, survey, and notification of channels.

The Vietnam Maritime Administration and the Department of Construction (at the provincial level) will take over many tasks regarding technical specification agreements, channel opening/closing announcements, surveys, inland waterway notifications, traffic safety plan approvals, and maintenance management.

Notably, the People's Committee at the commune level is given additional authority in agreeing on technical specifications for the construction of inland waterway wharves, cross-river passenger wharves and announcing the opening/closing of temporary works, helping to simplify administrative procedures and strengthen management responsibilities at the local level.

The draft adds a separate section on "temporary works", regulating the approval of the establishment, agreement on technical parameters, and announcement of the opening/closing of temporary works (such as residential wharves, temporary wharves serving construction, short-term cargo ports). This overcomes the lack of regulations for works with short-term use or not subject to planning under the Law on Planning.

The draft also provides detailed regulations and guidance on the implementation of more activities such as construction, exploitation, maintenance, protection of infrastructure, ensuring safety, security and environmental protection on inland waterways, and management of operations of vehicles, ships, seaplanes, and foreign watercraft on inland waterways.

Another important new point is to encourage and specify the implementation of electronic procedures through the National Electronic Information Portal, minimizing the direct submission of documents, in order to simplify administrative procedures, create convenience and save costs for people and businesses.

MR. PHUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/phan-cap-manh-cho-dia-phuong-quan-ly-duong-thuy-noi-dia-post802410.html