Workers at the Tan Rai bauxite mining project in Lam Dong Province. Bauxite projects must not harm the environment, the Politburo said Saturday.

Bauxite mining in the Central Highlands will continue only if it benefits the economy and causes no environmental damage, the Communist Party Politburo has said.

In November 2007, the government approved a two-project initiative to explore and exploit bauxite in the Central Highlands provinces of Lam Dong and Dak Nong through 2015. The project envisaged extension through 2025.

The Politburo Saturday ordered that bauxite development and aluminum production must ensure sustainable socio-economic benefits for the country.

The environment impact of bauxite mining must be taken into serious consideration, given the undeveloped infrastructure and utilities shortages in the Central Highlands, the Politburo said.

General Vo Nguyen Giap, the founding commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People’s Army, had sent a letter to a conference on the sustainability and profitability of bauxite mining two weeks ago in Hanoi warning that bauxite mining would damage the environment, social well-being and national security.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai responded by saying the country would not consider exploiting the mineral at “any cost” and would readjust the project in an effort to minimize damage to the environment.

The Politburo instructed the government Saturday to inspect the economic efficiency and environmental impact of the Nhan Co project in Dak Nong province. The project should only proceed if it is both financially efficient and environmentally sound, the Politburo said.

The Politburo also instructed the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group (TKV), the projects’ investor, not to sell stakes for foreign partners on the mining for the time being.

Contractors on the two projects should make hiring domestic laborers a priority and foreign laborers should only be employed when necessary, the Politburo said.

Tuoi Tre newspaper recently quoted Nguyen Thanh Hoa, deputy minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, as saying that Vietnamese law does not allow unskilled foreigners to work in Vietnam. He said the ministry only grants work permits to foreigners who have been trained and meet specific criteria.

Source: VNA