The Saigon Times Daily
The promise came after a large number of people in Vinh Tan Commune, Tuy Phong District where the plant is located gathered on the National Highway 1 section at the project in protest against the dust pollution caused by the plant. The huge gathering led to severe traffic congestion on the 50-kilometer-long road section in the south-central province on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nguyen Ngoc, vice chairman of Binh Thuan Province, confirmed the traffic congestion and explained that strong winds worsened coal ash pollution around the area of the thermal power plant. But competent agencies took swift actions and requested locals to stop blocking the road.
As a result, vehicles could move slowly through the area on Wednesday night, Ngoc told the Daily.
Nguyen Thanh Sang, chairman of Vinh Tan Commune, told the Daily yesterday morning that local people started to disperse at 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday and normal vehicular traffic on the highway resumed yesterday.
A source told the Daily that locals in the commune decided to block the road to oppose the severe pollution there after many months they had had to cope with it though they reported to local authorities but the problem was not solved.
The corporation attributed the pollution to the ongoing construction on a road leading to a coal ash landfill and the expansion of National Highway 1, which forced the trucks transporting coal ash to run on a road near residential areas in the commune.
Facing strong public objection, the corporation pledged to prevent coal ash at the plant from spreading, stop transporting coal ash for ten days and take measures to ease pollution in the area.
Vinh Tan 2 Thermal Power Plant has two generators, with each having a designed capacity of 622 MW. Its first generator was commissioned and connected to the national power grid in January this year.
The facility discharges around 1,500 tons of coal ash a day but has not handled the waste effectively despite fines being imposed by the province and the Vietnam Environmental Administration.
Work starts on Vinh Tan port project
* Pacific Corporation under the Ministry of Defense yesterday broke ground for Vinh Tan port complex with a total investment of nearly VND2.3 trillion and an annual loading capacity of five million tons of goods per year.
The first phase of the project comprises two piers for 30,000 DWT ships and one pier for 3,000 DWT vessels, and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2016.
The port complex will facilitate exports of goods produced in the south-central and Central Highlands regions and transport of coal to all power plants in the Vinh Tan power center consisting of Vinh Tan 1, Vinh Tan 2, Vinh Tan 3 and Vinh Tan 4 with a combined capacity of 5,600 MW.
Đăng ký: VietNam News