Taiwan Firm Compensation Trivial to Cover Fish Death Damage in Vietnam

Observers and activists in Vietnam believe that an amount of money which Taiwan-invested Formosa Hung Nghiep Ha Tinh Steel Corporation fined to compensate damage it causes to environment in four Vietnamese central provinces is totally trivial to cover part of consequences. The fine worth VND11 trillion ($500 million) set by the Vietnamese government neither compensates all victims nor sends a strict enough warning to other foreign-invested enterprises in the country, according to the VOA News. The Taiwanese company admitted to let toxic waste pollute the ocean in April, causing hundreds tons of fish to wash up onshore. That lengthens more than 200 kilometers of the central coastline. Formosa incident is one of the country’s worst environmental disasters. And effects of pollution and fish kill are far reaching. People familiar with the issue say the fine cannot cover the continued losses to fishermen, resorts, and locals who may have contracted skin diseases from touching the water. They also hope Vietnamese authorities will test the ocean water to ensure it’s now safe. Minister  of Natural Resources and Environmental Tran Hong Ha told local media in June the amount covers only direct material damages, not psychological losses to fishermen who lost income. He called the fine “too small.” Agreeing with that sentiment, Vietnamese living in Taiwan protested last week, calling for the steel plant’s investor, Formosa Plastics Corp., to leave their homeland. Duc Truong, an independent journalist and part of the Vietnamese non-governmental organization Brotherhood for Democracy, said that Vietnamese authorities need to take more action because about five million people were affected by the fish deaths and some have not recovered. Fishermen in the oceans near the steel plant are catching just one fifth of what they could get at this time a year ago, Duc and other activists said. Environmental authorities should test the water quality of the once tainted oceans, said Tran Bang, an engineer and activist in Ho Chi Minh City. He said an independent report turned up excessive levels of six chemicals. Some suspect the government of going easy on Formosa to protect the firm’s $10.5 billion investment. Seafood sales have eased around the country, according to Oscar Mussons, international business advisory associate with the Dezan Shira & Associates consultancy in Ho Chi Minh City. Thousands of foreign investors who have set up export-manufacturing plants in the inexpensive Southeast Asian country are watching how much deeper the Vietnamese government bores into the fish death case will send a signal to them. “We would like to use the case of Formosa as the alert to every enterprise doing business in Vietnam. We don’t want them to get a benefit higher than the environment and the life of the people,” said Le Cong Dinh, counsel in a Ho Chi Minh City law firm. “So we want them to comply with the laws and satisfy the condition of the environment.” (www.voanews.com Aug 16)