Environmental disaster in Vietnam

Beginning in early April 2016 a massive fish deaths on the coast of Vietnam was perceived. The disaster began in Ha Tinh province, in central Vietnam and then spreads to more than 200 km of coastline, into the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang. Since then a few hundred thousands (well much more than 115 tons) of dead fish were purged on the beaches of the region. Thousands of Vietnamese are threatened in their existence.

” in search of those who are responsible for the environmental disaster in Vietnam ”

” Do you want fish or steel? “A steel plant of the Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) in Vietnamese Ha Tinh province has been begins the operation in early April 2016. The mass fish mortality started at the same time. Fishermen of the region discovered some pipelines of the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS), which initiated the company’s wastewater directly into the sea. The fishermen were sure that they had found the cause of the environmental disaster.

This assumption of the fishermen’s was then confirmed in a first unofficial statement of Formosa. Mr. Chou Chun Fan, a senior manager of the company apologized for the disaster. But he made it clear that one must lose something if ones are planning to win something. He underscored his opinion with the statement: “Do you want fish or do you want a steelworks? You need to decide!”. This led to a wave of protests as well to indignation among the Vietnamese population. The allegations were vehemently disclaimed by official side of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS). Mr. Chou Chun Fan was dismissed on the grounds that he does not represent the opinion of the company.

The Vietnamese government in Hanoi practiced restraint. However, it was emphasized that they wanted to solve the case rest. The Vietnamese Deputy Minister for Resources and Environment, Mr. Vo Tuan Nhan spoke the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS) free from any responsibility on the environmental disaster during a press conference on 27.04.2016. Cause of the fish deaths was probably rather an algal bloom and the initiation of toxic chemicals by the residents of the region. Questions were not permitted by Vietnamese government during the press conference. Vietnamese civil rights activists assume that corrupt government officials were bribed by the Formosa to cover up the incident.

” Formosa Plastics Group ”The Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Group is with an annual turnover of 78 billion USD and more than 106-thousand employees one of the largest chemical concerns in the world. The Group operates numerous subsidiaries in Taiwan, China, Vietnam as well in the United States and other countries. The owners and the management of the Formosa Plastics Group were in 2009 denounced, by the ethecon – Foundation for Ethics & Economics with the Black Planet Award as they belonging to the persons who are responsible for the largest pollution at the earth. 다낭 마사지