A large number of voters expressed concern that prices of goods will continue to rise as the base salary increases by 30 percent and pension by 15 percent from July 1st. Voters have recommended that HCMC continue to implement price stabilization solutions, especially for essential goods, in order to prevent price rises, as multiple price hikes will render the wage increase less meaningful.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Hong, a worker at Nissei Electric Vietnam Co. in Thu Duc City stated that she and her colleagues are feeling unease about rising prices and expenses along with wage increase. In reality, in addition to gasoline, prices for electricity, water, rent, and many essential commodities have been gradually growing since the Lunar New Year.
She hoped that the authorities would strengthen inspections and supervision of pricing and standards for electricity and water in boarding houses. In addition, there needs to be a connection between businesses to maintain static prices for essential goods and to organize stabilized sales and discounts in factories and workers' boarding houses.
In addition, voters proposed that HCMC petition the Central Government to consider adjusting the personal income tax deduction for dependents. As the cost of living increases, so should the deduction be adjusted accordingly.
Another concerning issue is food poisoning incidents, so voters urged the HCMC People's Council to tighten supervision of this matter and consider strong sanctions to promptly prevent the sale and transport of unsafe food. Voters also called for strict penalties for businesses engaging in deceptive practices that compromise food safety, as well as for irresponsible food safety inspectors.
In addition to the above topics is the explosion of social media, where both real and fake, positive and negative information abounds. Much of the unverified information on social media has a negative impact on the thoughts and perceptions of young people.
Voters suggested the need for more effective measures to curb harmful and toxic information in cyberspace. They also proposed stricter supervision of e-commerce channels to prevent the exploitation of these platforms for selling low-quality goods, counterfeits, and false advertising.
The fourth issue attracting much attention of voters is the planning of HCMC for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Among them, voter Nguyen Xuan Tuan (District 10) proposed that the municipal authorities consider asking the Central Government to allow the establishment of an economic zone to form a free trade zone linked to Can Gio International Transshipment Port.
Environmental pollution and the handling and collection of domestic waste in HCMC are issues of great concern to voters. They urged the city to develop a plan for waste sorting at sources as well as corresponding collection and transportation. They also suggested studying policies to invest in support vehicles for sanitation workers to collect and sort waste at the source.
Tran Ba Ha from Ben Nghe Ward of District 1 shared that thirteen years ago, his neighborhood was selected for a pilot program on waste sorting at source. However, when residents sorted their waste, the garbage collection service combined it all into one truck for disposal.
He wondered whether this could be the reason why source-separated waste management has not yet improved and urged the HCMC People's Council to adopt resolutions for the effective implementation of the collection, transportation, and treatment of domestic waste, with the goal of turning waste into a resource.
Pham Ngoc Trang from Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward in Thu Duc City expressed her worry about environmental pollution. Shae said that in addition to littering, many places still discharge domestic wastewater directly into canals, ditches, and rivers, contributing to environmental pollution.
The HCMC People's Council should monitor this issue and discuss solutions to curb this practice, especially the need to require households to build septic tanks for domestic wastewater. It should also discuss solutions to exploit the corridors along canals, ditches, and rivers to both protect the canal corridors and relieve traffic pressure on roads in residential areas.
Voters appreciated District 1’s quick implementation of a pilot program to charge a fee for the use of a portion of sidewalks for business services and the sale of goods, in accordance with Resolution 15 of the HCMC People's Council on the issuance of temporary fees for the use of roadsides and sidewalks.
They recommended that the city expand this program to other districts and Thu Duc City to make the city more beautiful and civilized. At the same time, voters proposed that the city consider expanding the scope of paid parking to qualified roads; and promptly complete and put into use public parking lots to address the current shortage of parking spaces, especially in the downtown area.
Finally, voters are also concerned about the many narrow alleys in HCMC that can only be passed by one motorbike; and thus, many houses do not have fire escapes, and some apartments are still like "tiger cages" or "birdcages" with no escape routes in case of fire. Voters urged the competent authorities to take into account the design of a second fire escape when approving designs.
