Vedan turns down farmers’ $33m compensation demand

Monosodium glutamate maker Vedan Viet Nam has rejected a compensation claim of VND569 billion (US$33 million) by farmers in Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and HCM City for the damage it caused by polluting the Thi Vai River.

Meeting between Vedan and the farmers associations of HCM City, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces to discuss compensation

Speaking to representatives of farmers’ associations from the three localities last Friday, Yang Kun Hsiang, general director of the Taiwanese company, said the assessment of the damage must be based on good scientific evidence.

Vedan would decide on the compensation amount after a council chaired by the central Environment Department estimated the damage, he said.

Nguyen Van Phung, deputy chairman of the HCM City Farmers Association, said a survey conducted in the three worst-affected communes in HCM City’s Can Gio District found that nearly 1,600 households suffered losses worth VND325 billion.

The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment is doing a study of the pollution caused by the company in the Thi Vai River and its impact on the area’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

It would be completed in November and its findings would provide evidence for a lawsuit to be filed for compensation, Phung said.

The farmers’ associations of the two provinces have demanded compensation of VND120 billion and VND296 billion.

At the Friday meeting, the Vedan Viet Nam agreed that in early October, its representatives would accompany the associations to assess the damage its pollution caused to farmers.

This will also be used to reach a decision on compensation or support for affected people.

Representatives of the farmers’associations agreed that they would like the case to be settled through negotiations rather than in court.

But if the two sides failed reach agreement, they would file a lawsuit against Vedan, they added.

(Source: VNS)