The Ho Chi Minh City’s Farmers Association plans to represent the tillers of Can Gio District in a lawsuit against Vedan Vietnam next month, a move pending approval from the city’s Party Committee and People’s Committee, the association’s chairman Nguyen Van Phung said on June 17.
The association will ask the committees for suing Vedan, he said at a June 17 meeting with the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lawyers Association and the Institute of Environment and Resources of the HCM National University.
At the meeting, participants assessed the possible legal measures they could take, and considered how they could help Can Gio farmers sue the Taiwanese-invested monosodium glutamate producer Vedan Vietnam for proper compensation after 14 years of secretly discharged untreated wastewater destroyed aquaculture and crops surrounding the Thi Vai River, whish runs through Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau provinces, as well as some areas of HCMC, like Can Gio District.
Chairman Phung said the association and farmers knew the company’s previous offer of VND7billion (US$368,400) in compensation to Can Gio farmers was too low.
The Institute of Environment and Resources said that some 2,123.2 hectares of aquaculture farms in Can Gio District had been damaged by the pollution in the Thi Vai caused by Vedan.
The institute estimated that Vedan had caused damage in Can Gio worth VND45.7 billion (US$2.4 million).
