Ba Ria - Vung Tau Asks Help for Environmental Cleanup

The southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau has asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Vietnam Farmer Association to intervene in to ask Taiwanese sodium glutamate producer Vedan to compensate for local farmers. In late December 2009, Ba Ria - Vung Tau asked local agencies to verify losses suffered by local farmers, caused by Vedan’s polluting act to the Thi Vai River. Accordingly, there are 1255 families suffering from Vedan case, totaling over VND216 billion. The results were verified by the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources in March 2010. Ba Ria-Vung Tau April 9 officially asked Vedan to pay compensation of over VND53.6 billion to local farmers based on the above report. However, Vedan answered in a dispatch dated April 22 that it had not receive any related document and asked the province to provide documents to “research”. Previously, Ho Chi Minh City sent a report of farmers’ losses in Vedan case, totaling over VND107 billion to the MoNRE and asked the ministry to help ask for Vedan’s compensation.