The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province will work with Taiwanese seasoning powder producer, Vedan, on compensation for farmers on May 18.
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In a meeting with the General Department of Environment and representatives of the three related provinces – Ba Ria-Vung Tau, HCM City and Dong Nai – in late 2009, Vedan’s general director denied that it had “killed” Thi Vai River. |
Previously, Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen claimed responsibility to the bitter end for farmers who are victims of Vedan’s polluting activities.
On May 17, General Department of the Environment Chief Bui Cach Tuyen revealed that, according to Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s analysis, farmers suffered 53 billion dong (around $2.95 million) in losses caused by Vedan’s activities.
HCM City has fixed farming losses at 45 billion dong ($2.5 million), while Dong Nai province has not reported its losses yet. Previously, these provinces reported hundreds of billions of dong in losses.
Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen affirmed that these figures are the results of analysis on the impact of Vedan’s pollution.
Nguyen added that, in principle, claims for compensation are civil cases judged by courts and he confirmed that his ministry would assist farmers.
He also took responsibility to the end because this is the first case of its kind in Vietnam. “If Vedan doesn’t agree to the compensation plan (proposed by Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCM City), the Ministry will provide other solutions,” Nguyen explained.
In a meeting with the General Department of Environment and representatives of the three related provinces – Ba Ria-Vung Tau, HCM City and Dong Nai – in late 2009, Vedan denied that it had “killed” Thi Vai River, even when research proved that Vedan “contributed” 90 percent of the reasons that Thi Vai became a dead river. The company then asked for “re-measuring” of its polluting activities.
The General Department of the Environment maintained that Vedan has taken serious measures to repair its mistakes.
On May 17 MoNRE conducted an online exchange with the public, the 10th meeting of its kind. The online dialogue attracted the participation of officials from the Ministry and 63 provincial departments of natural resources and the environment.
The biggest concern for people at this meeting was still land-related issues, the topic of up to 60 percent of the 1000 questions, followed by environment matters (10 percent).
The Thi Vai River begins in Long Thanh province, runs through Ba Ria – Vung Tau province and a HCM City district before pouring into the East Sea. Its total length is some 76 kilometers and its total basin area is some 300 square kilometers.
On September 8, 2008, the Environmental Police Agency and MoNRE inspectors caught Vedan discharging untreated waste water into the Thi Vai River. The company polluted the river for 14 years with up to 105.6 million liters of untreated wastewater per month. The toxic water killed farmers’ fish and shrimp and ruined farmland along the river’s banks.
MoNRE suspended the plant’s wastewater discharge license and fined the company 267.5 million dong ($15,030). The ministry also demanded another 127 billion dong ($7.14 million) from the company in overdue environmental fees. The company paid the fine and the fees in three installments. However, Vedan has not yet compensated affected farmers.
PV
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