Vedan to pay just $127,000 to farmers for polluting river

The polluted Thi Vai River in the southern province of Dong Nai. Monosodium glutamate maker Vedan discharged untreated waste water into the river, destroying the local fishing industry.

Monosodium glutamate producer Vedan Viet Nam has agreed to pay only VND2.4 billion (US$127,000) of the requested compensation of VND53 billion($278,000) for farmers living in the polluted communes of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, which were affected by the companys untreated waste.

During a meeting on Tuesday, provincial authorities and the Institute for Natural Resources and Environment provided the legal evidence and data from site tests on which the compensation level was based.

The national General Department of Environment and Vedan also attended the meeting.

Yang Kun Hsiang, Vedans general director, said it would pay compensation of $127,000 to rice, aquaculture and fishery farmers, but not to salt farmers.

The environment department had previously asked Vedan to pay VND10 billion ($523,000) of the entire amount of VND53 billion in advance to farmers.

It also had asked Vedan to pay for expenses to cover legal fees, data gathering and evaluation reports of damages to farmland.

The department has urged authorities of Dong Nai Province where Vedans factories are located to speed up the assessments of damage caused by the pollution in the province. Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province has completed the work, while HCM City continues to conduct its assessments.

The ministry has asked the provinces and HCM City to continue to negotiate with Vedan on the compensation amounts and report on its findings before May 20.

(Source: VNS)