Anti-Formosa protests everywhere in Vietnam
Forbes, August 11, 2016
This stinky chapter in Vietnam’s current affairs log was supposed to be over. After 80 tons of dead fish washed up on central coast beaches in April, citizens protested that the government moved too slowly in finding the cause. After weeks of sporadic demonstrations, some of them squelched, and another month of checking around for causes, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry named Taiwanese-invested Formosa Ha Tinh steel plant the culprit for releasing toxic chemicals into the ocean. The subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group paid $500 million to help fishing communities, apologized and agreed to clean up its waste system.
That was supposed to close the case of the initially mysterious pileup of millions of fish from April 4 to 15. But now it’s August and a lot of things still smell fishy if you ask around in Vietnam.
About 5 million people in four provinces were hurt by the fish deaths and a lot have yet to recover, says Duc Truong, part of the Vietnamese NGO Democracy Brotherhood and an independent journalist who investigated the kill. He shows photos of people he says got skin injuries from touching toxic ocean water. Fishermen in the oceans near the steel plant are catching 20% what they could get this time a year ago, fish sauce vendors are suspected of using the dead fish and resort owners have lost business, Duc and other activists say. “We feel it was too fast a solution for Formosa and the government, so we don’t accept it and feel that the damage is more,” Duc says. “The illnesses are bad and hospitals have been told not to treat it. There should be tests done by the hospital.”
Some suspect the government of going too easy on Formosa to protect the firm’s $10.5 billion investment. Vietnam happens to be building its $193.6 billion economy largely on foreign-invested export factories and officials are known for offering incentives to bring them into the country, a reason behind the country’s fast GDP growth.
About four in five people see the penalty against Formosa as too light, an assistant to a legal firm in Ho Chi Minh City says based on her own contacts. “Many people can’t go to fish anymore and the fishermen have no jobs, they’re so poor,” the legal aide says. Public officials, she adds, “should care about the Vietnamese people, but they care about money.”
The fine against Formosa covers only direct material damages, not psychological losses to fishermen whose income was severed, environment Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged to local media in June, calling the $500 million payout “too small.”
Stronger penalties against Formosa would send a signal to other investors that Vietnam is tough on polluters, Duc says. “One of the ways to raise awareness among other businesses in Vietnam is to handle Formosa and bring them to justice,” he says.
Authorities have yet to test ocean waters near the steel plant, which based on one independent analysis show signs of exceeding norms, says Tran Bang, a Ho Chi Minh City engineer who says he has done his own research into the case. Others share his fear, a reason some consumers still avoid eating fish. Yet Formosa has spent $45 million on its wastewater processing system to date, per media reports, and the central coast city of Da Nang said in April its ocean waters were already safe then for swimming.
One positive lingering effect from the fish kill: People around the country are more careful about safety of all kinds of food, meaning they wash or boil even vegetables more than ever, says Oscar Mussons, international business advisory associate with the Dezan Shira & Associates consultancy in Ho Chi Minh City. “Before I wasn’t seeing this, but now people are more concerned about environmental issues, which is a very good thing,” he says.
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August 15, 2016
Vietnam’s Solution To Fish Death Scandal Leaves Many Locals Unsatisfied
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Anti-Formosa protests everywhere in Vietnam
Forbes, August 11, 2016
This stinky chapter in Vietnam’s current affairs log was supposed to be over. After 80 tons of dead fish washed up on central coast beaches in April, citizens protested that the government moved too slowly in finding the cause. After weeks of sporadic demonstrations, some of them squelched, and another month of checking around for causes, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry named Taiwanese-invested Formosa Ha Tinh steel plant the culprit for releasing toxic chemicals into the ocean. The subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group paid $500 million to help fishing communities, apologized and agreed to clean up its waste system.
That was supposed to close the case of the initially mysterious pileup of millions of fish from April 4 to 15. But now it’s August and a lot of things still smell fishy if you ask around in Vietnam.
About 5 million people in four provinces were hurt by the fish deaths and a lot have yet to recover, says Duc Truong, part of the Vietnamese NGO Democracy Brotherhood and an independent journalist who investigated the kill. He shows photos of people he says got skin injuries from touching toxic ocean water. Fishermen in the oceans near the steel plant are catching 20% what they could get this time a year ago, fish sauce vendors are suspected of using the dead fish and resort owners have lost business, Duc and other activists say. “We feel it was too fast a solution for Formosa and the government, so we don’t accept it and feel that the damage is more,” Duc says. “The illnesses are bad and hospitals have been told not to treat it. There should be tests done by the hospital.”
Some suspect the government of going too easy on Formosa to protect the firm’s $10.5 billion investment. Vietnam happens to be building its $193.6 billion economy largely on foreign-invested export factories and officials are known for offering incentives to bring them into the country, a reason behind the country’s fast GDP growth.
About four in five people see the penalty against Formosa as too light, an assistant to a legal firm in Ho Chi Minh City says based on her own contacts. “Many people can’t go to fish anymore and the fishermen have no jobs, they’re so poor,” the legal aide says. Public officials, she adds, “should care about the Vietnamese people, but they care about money.”
The fine against Formosa covers only direct material damages, not psychological losses to fishermen whose income was severed, environment Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged to local media in June, calling the $500 million payout “too small.”
Stronger penalties against Formosa would send a signal to other investors that Vietnam is tough on polluters, Duc says. “One of the ways to raise awareness among other businesses in Vietnam is to handle Formosa and bring them to justice,” he says.
Authorities have yet to test ocean waters near the steel plant, which based on one independent analysis show signs of exceeding norms, says Tran Bang, a Ho Chi Minh City engineer who says he has done his own research into the case. Others share his fear, a reason some consumers still avoid eating fish. Yet Formosa has spent $45 million on its wastewater processing system to date, per media reports, and the central coast city of Da Nang said in April its ocean waters were already safe then for swimming.
One positive lingering effect from the fish kill: People around the country are more careful about safety of all kinds of food, meaning they wash or boil even vegetables more than ever, says Oscar Mussons, international business advisory associate with the Dezan Shira & Associates consultancy in Ho Chi Minh City. “Before I wasn’t seeing this, but now people are more concerned about environmental issues, which is a very good thing,” he says.