Hanoi (VNA)– Nearly one year after a marine environmental incident occurred in central HaTinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, efforts and actions arebeing made to bring the calm sea back for the region.

Resolute to work forpeople’s benefits
The marine environmental incident in the central region caused by Hung NghiepFormosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd was the largest of its kind in Vietnam thus far.A vast area of the sea had been found polluted, sparking enormoussocio-economic and environmental consequences in both short and long terms.

The incident has triggered direct, severe effects on fishing activities,aquaculture, seafood processing, salt making, fisheries logistics, and tourismas well as social disturbances, and concerns in a proportion of population.

As so, functional agencies, scientists and environmental experts had workedhard and came to a conclusion that the culprit of the incident was Hung NghiepFormosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd as it discharged untreated waste into the sea.The company’s representative admitted the wrongdoing and committed acompensation of 500 million USD (equivalent to 11 trillion VND) to fix theconsequences. The company pledged to take measures to improve its hazardouswaste treatment system to prevent similar incidents.

As the case learnt, the Party, the Government, sectors and agencies at alllevels set recovering the environment and ensuring people’s benefit as a top goaland have promptly joined hands to enable the affected residents to quicklyresume their normal life and business activities.

Not only doing do, the Party, the Government and localities showed their seriousnessin steering work and admitted their responsibility before the people whiletaking measures to punish individuals and organizations involved in theincident. The Commission for Inspection of the Party Central Committee met and concludedthat the Party Delegation to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmentworking during the period leading to the incident made severe mistakes and deserveddisciplines. Meanwhile, many managerial officials of the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment, the General Environment Department, Ha Tinh province,and the Vung Ang Economic Zone Management Board relating to the incident havebeen disciplined.

Sea recovering
Under the close supervision of Vietnamese authorities and local residents, Formosahas fulfilled up to 96 percent of its work committed to the VietnameseGovernment and people, assessed Vietnamese relevant agencies and scientists.

Meanwhile, the four affected localities received 3.7 trillion VND out of the4.7 trillion VND advanced for compensation and are likely to get the rest ofthe compensation by the end of June, 2017.

In late 2016, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment officially announcedthat the sea in the central region was safe. The level of pollutants from theincident in the sea environment has reduced significantly.

In particular, fishermen said they have recently caught many sardines and bluefish in the area, seeing it as a good omen for their offshore fishing in thewaters and their livelihoods as well.

Local statistics tell that 70-80 percent of under 90 CV boats and 85-90 percentof above 90 CV vessels have launched fishing trips, bringing ashore over 4,500tonnes of seafood so far this year, which were consumed stably. In addition tothat, 2,777 hectares of brackish water have been used for farming fish sincelate 2016, fulfilling the yearly plan. In the meantime, local residents arepreparing facilities for this year’s breeding season.

While efforts arebeing made to recover the affected marine environment and help affected peopleto stabilize their life and production, it is regrettable that severalextremists have in recent days made corrupt the Party and State policies onbelief and religious freedom and colluded with overseas hostile forces toincite religious followers to public disturbances. They even attacked on-duty officers,causing social and traffic chaos and badly affecting political security andsocial safety and order in the central region.      

Those extremists intentionally used the Formosa incident as a pretext to damagethe relations between the local administration and religious followers inparticular and local residents in general in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces andundermine the people’s unity in the areas. They have, through several religiousfigures, provoked gullible people and religious followers into taking actions andwrongful viewpoints against the administration.

It can be said that through such bad activities, these individualsintentionally turned an environmental issue into a political issue. They, inthe name of the protector of the marine environment, resorted to sabotage theParty and State, undermine the national unity bloc and the unity betweenreligious followers and non-religious people, and shatter the peaceful environmentin the central region.

The marineenvironmental incident in the central region is a big lesson for the countryduring its socio-economic development and also an expensive experience indealing with environmental “hotspots”. It features a long-time contradictionbetween growing the economy fast and protecting the environment.

A new mindset indevelopment for the long term has therefore been adopted by the Party and Stateand has been repeated many times by the Prime Minister. “Don’t trade ourenvironment for economic growth and people’s peaceful life.”  

People should be vigilant and lucid for the community and the homeland. Morethan ever, residents in the central region, regardless of religious followersand non-religious people, should be determined to work together and with the administrationto strengthen their unity and the sense of community and neighborliness.

In particular, they should be resolute to fight against provocative acts, damagerevolutionary attainments gained by our elders, and undermine the stability ofthe political system and the people’s peaceful life.-VNA