Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment (MoNRE) Pham Khoi Nguyen has acknowledged Vedan’s efforts to rectify its polluting of the Thi Vai River but said MoNRE would continue to keep an eye on the firm.

Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen.

Commenting on Vedan’s recent environmental efforts, Nguyen said:

I reported the Vedan scandal to the National Assembly’s 4^th session. We have supervised Vedan’s activities to deal with the environmental damage it caused. Recently, we made a field trip to Dong Nai to inspect Vedan’s implementation of the MoNRE’s decision and we found that this company has fundamentally obeyed the decision.

They have dismantled the illegal network of pipes that were discharging waste water into the Thi Vai River and have been reducing production capacity and have stopped the operations of some factories to ensure that waste water meets standards before it is discharged into the Thi Vai River and Nuoc Lon Canal.

Vedan paid a fine of 267 million dong and 93 of the total 127 billion in environmental protection fees which it had avoided paying, and is about to pay off the remaining sum.

The firm has installed an automatic environmental observation system. Though it has scaled down production, Vedan is still earning enough money to pay its workers.

MoNRE has closely supervised the quality of the water in the Thi Vai River and said that water quality is improving. Aquatic animals are returning to the river.

We are working with related ministries, agencies, local governments and the Vietnam Farmers’ Association to deal with this issue. Firstly, we asked Vedan to show its goodwill and negotiate with farmers about compensation.

VietNamNet/TP

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