Taiwanese-owned MSG maker Vedan Vietnam agreed Thursday to compensate farmers land and water it had poisoned by polluting the Thi Vai River.

However, the amount and type of compensation would be decided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on January 31, said Bui Canh Tuyen, head of the administration.

Last August, Vedan refused to pay VND659 billion (over $37 million) in compensation requested by three farmers’ associations who claimed the pollution, discovered in September 2008, had destroyed crops and farmland while poisoning fish and shrimp.

Vedan said the sum requested was too high and that authorities needed to provide evidence that Vedan’s pollution had caused that much damage.

At another meeting with the administration in mid December, the company rejected scientists’ conclusions that it had caused more than 89 percent of the pollution currently floating through the Thi Vai, saying other companies and domestic polluters should take responsible as well.

Tuyen said ministry would make a final conclusion on the dispute between Vedan and the administration on January 31.

The latest meeting on Thursday also heard a Vedan on its own response to its environmental violations, including submitting VND267.5 million ($14,482) in fines, closing down four of its factories and investing $33.1 million into a wastewater treatment system.

Reported by Hoang Tuan