Farmers okay $6.2m compo from Vedan

The Dong Nai Province People’s Committee has agreed to accept the VND120 billion (US$6.2 million) compensation offer made by Taiwanese-owned Vedan Viet Nam, following a survey of thousands of farmers.

Vedan was found guilty two years ago of illegally discharging waste water into the Thi Vai River, affecting farmers in HCM City’s Can Gio District as well as those in Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.

Dong Nai and Vedan officials are expected to meet tomorrow to sign the final agreement on the total compensation amount.

The committee orally agreed to take responsibility if additional payments to two farmers who have not withdrawn lawsuits against Vedan were needed. Vedan said it would appear in court for these two cases.

However, if the court decides to compensate the two farmers at a higher rate than what each farmer receives under the total compensation offer of VND120 billion, the committee must pay the extra amount, according to Vedan officials.

The committee based its request of VND120 billion in compensation on figures from the HCM City Institute of Environment and Natural Resources.

Le Viet Hung, director of Dong Nai’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said local authorities had asked the two farmers, Nguyen Lam Son and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Chau, to withdraw the lawsuits.

Son, the first farmer to sue Vedan, said he was considering withdrawal because he did not want to affect the compensation of others.

Farmers in Dong Nai Province were the worst-affected by the industrial pollution. On August 17, Vedan made a compensation payment to HCM City and to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on August 18.

In the case of Dong Nai, compensation took more time because local authorities and farmers could not reach an agreement on the amount.

Thus, the department visited each farmer to determine the exact area that had been affected and the amount of financial loss. After the visits, more than 5,000 farmers withdrew their lawsuits. —VNS

Tags: Vedan Vietnam, Vietnam Environment Protection