Farmers’ associations in the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCM City have slammed Vedan’s proposed "financial support" for farmers affected by its discharge of untreated effluents into Thi Vai River as too low.
Farmers’ associations in the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and
Last week ,Vedan Viet Nam had officially announced a "financial support" package of VND25 billion (nearly US$1.4 million) for farmers who suffered losses because of the pollution caused by the monosodium glutamate producer.
In an official dispatch recently sent to the farmers’ associations, the general director of Vedan Viet Nam, Yang Kun-Hsiang, said the package comprises VND7 billion for affected farmers in Dong Nai, a similar amount for HCM City farmers, and VND6 billion for affected farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
The remaining VND5 billion will be used to establish a fund to develop infrastructure and help farmers in Dong Nai’s Long Thanh and Nhon Trach districts, Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Tan Thanh District, and HCM City’s Can Gio District to get other jobs.
To receive the support, farmers must show that they are living in areas affected directly by Vedan’s discharge of untreated effluents and must have titles to affected properties.
The Taiwanese firm says the financial aid proposal was made after surveys conducted at the sites. The company also collected expert opinions for the proposed financial support which is "based on the company’s financial capacity".
The proposal package, however, is far below the compensation demanded by farmers suffering losses caused by Vedan’s discharge of untreated effluents into
According to the farmers’ associations, so far more than 7,000 farmers in the three localities have demanded compensation totalling more than VND200 billion ($11.2 million).
The Dong Nai Farmers’ Association says some 4,000 residents in the Long Thanh District’s Long Phuoc and Phuoc Thai communes and Nhon Trach District’s Long Tho and Phuoc An communes have petitioned for three levels of compensation. Families living on aquaculture would receive compensation of VND30 to 40 million per hectare; fishermen woud get VND20 to 30 million per hectare; and others, VND5 to 10 million per hectare. Total compensation demanded by Dong Nai farmers amounts to VND112 billion ($6.2 million).
Some 1,000 farmers in
Nguyen Van Thong, chairman of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Farmers’ Association, says the proposed VND6 billion "support" was too low compared with the losses suffered by 3,000 farmers in the province now demanding compensation.
Lawyer Hoang Nhu Vinh, who represents Vedan in working with farmers’ associations on the company’s aid for affected farmers, was quoted by the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper as saying that the VND25 billion "financial support" was just a proposal made by Vedan.
If the farmers’ demand for compensation was much higher than Vedan’s capacity, Vinh says, the company will withdraw the proposal, and the two sides would face each other in the courts.
(Source: VNS)
