Vietnam Considers Sanctioning Malaysia Firm for Polluting Local Environment

Police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai will launch a criminal investigation if the discharged waste of Malaysia-invested Chin Well Fasteners Vietnam Co., Ltd is classified as hazardous, according to the state-run Lao Dong newspaper. The Malaysian firm was found discharging a large volume of untreated solid waste and wastewater into the environment, Dong Nai authorities said at a press briefing last weekend, giving no specific amount. Late last month, Dong Nai province’s environment police, caught the Malaysian company using one of its two underground pipelines to discharge untreated wastewater into the environment. The police also found a large amount of waste buried on the site, the newspaper quoted Vo Van Chanh, vice chairman of Dong Nai People’s Committee as saying. The case is under investigations and samples of the wastewater and solid waste are being analyzed, Mr. Chanh said, adding that the company will face either a criminal charge or administrative fines after the investigation results. Being an affiliate of Malaysia’s Chin Well Holdings Berhad, Chin Well Fasteners Vietnam began operating in 2005 and manufactures bolts and screws at an investment of $80 million. Chin Well Vietnam’s data showed that 60% of its products are exported to Europe, 30% to the U.S, 5% to Japan, and the rest to Southeast Asian nations. Chin Well Fasteners Vietnam is located in Dong Nai province’s Formosa Nhon Trach Industrial Park which is invested by Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group in 2001, seven years before Formosa Ha Tinh industrial complex. Formosa Plastics Group has four plants in the industrial park in Dong Nai. Formosa Hung Nghiep Ha Tinh Steel Corporation late last month admitted to poison the sea off Vietnam’s central coast and claimed recompense worth VND11 trillion ($500 million) to cover short-term consequences. But rights groups, intellectuals, and environmentalists in Vietnam have continued claiming for further responsibilities for severe environmental pollution from the Taiwanese company, calling the Vietnamese government to shut down the Taiwan’s polluter. (Lao Dong – Labor Aug 14, VnExpress.net Aug 14)