Son Nguyen
Such a stance by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment heaps praise in the local media, as most newspapers have for years protested these two projects for the sake of environment protection. The efforts now pay off, so to say.
In its report, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says that the projects will destroy 372 hectares of forest, including 128 hectares in the core of Cat Tien National Park encompassing Dong Nai and Lam Dong provinces, according to Nguoi Lao Dong. That is not to mention adverse impacts caused by the construction of auxiliary facilities for the hydropower projects, including the power lines and poles, and the approach roads, which will all give way to other activities damaging to Cat Tien National Park.
Therefore, despite Duc Long-Gia Lai Group as the investor has insisted on redoing the projects’ environment impact statement, the ministry makes it clear that it will not reassess the projects due to the apparent violations.
Truong Van Vo, deputy head of the Delegation of National Assembly deputies of Dong Nai Province, says the outcome is satisfactory. “The truth has spoken out,” says the title of an article in Nguoi Lao Dong authored by Vo, who has repeatedly protested the projects at many seminars as well as at the NA sittings, since the investor sought licensing for the projects in 2007.
Citing the ministry’s report that says the projects encroach on the strictly-protected forest in Cat Tien National Park, Vo calls on other central agencies like the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture to take “proactive, transparent moves in proposing the Government to eliminate the two projects.”
While awaiting such moves, the NA deputy hails the decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, saying it “not only rescues Cat Tien from the catastrophe, but also ensures the victory for righteous voices that come from the love for nature, for homeland and the responsibility towards future generations.”
It is likely the Ministry of Industry and Trade will also join the chorus.
An official of the ministry says in Tien Phong that though the two projects are included in the master plan on hydropower development, it does not mean such projects will be approved. In the master plan, these two projects should be commissioned in 2015 and 2016, but “the master plan is prepared to calculate the potential of power generation in general and hydropower in particular. Whether such projects will be endorsed or not is a different story,” says the official.
Earlier, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang has asserted that if the two projects cause adverse impacts on the environment, they shall not be licensed, according to Tuoi Tre.
Tran Viet Ngai, chairman of the Vietnam Energy Association, says in Tien Phong that the two projects should be dropped due to low cost-effectiveness. It is not the cost that the investor will bear for development, but the dear price that the people and nature has to pay. “If the two projects are to be developed, up to 340 hectares of forest will be logged down only to have a capacity of 100MW, a trivial output compared to the national power demand,” says Ngai.
Tran Van Thanh, former director of Cat Tien National Park and now serving as acting chief of Yok Don Park nearby, comments in Tuoi Tre that investors while running after profits have ignored damages to the environment, killing primitive forests and biodiversity altogether. Never can such treasures be recovered once destroyed, he asserts.
The newspaper gives an overview of hydropower development in the country over the years and huge damages caused to the environment. “Reality shows that in the 2006-2012 period, hydropower development nationwide has wiped off nearly 20,000 hectares of forest, while reforestation in compensation for such projects as regulated by the law until now has reached a mere 3% of commitment,” says the paper, citing Dang Ngoc Dinh, a consultant tasked with building the national strategy on biodiversity.
Vu Ngoc Long, director of the Southern Ecological Study Institute, says the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has approached the truth in siding with the environment, according to Nguoi Lao Dong.
The ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the widespread public expectation is that the ministry will also advocate nature to dismiss the two projects despite losses already borne by the investor. Such a move will not only benefit the environment, but also contribute to the country’s current efforts to cope with climate change.
“The abolition of these two hydropower projects is in line with the Central Party Committee’s resolution on proactively coping with climate change,” says Tuoi Tre, quoting Dinh Quoc Thai, chairman of Dong Nai Province.
The Saigon Times Daily
Đăng ký: VietNam News