Vietnam Civil Society Releases Independent Research on Formosa Disaster

Green Trees, a Vietnamese unregistered civil society organization, has published a report on environmental disaster in Vietnam’s central region after Taiwan-invested Formosa Corporation poisoned the sea by untreated toxic waste. The report “An Overview of the Marine Life Disaster in Vietnam”, the first independent report on the environmental disaster, was believed to have been sent to President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a time when the National Assembly, the country’s highest legislature, convenes its month-long meeting. The report is published amid growing public anger against slow state’s response toward the disaster and escalating police suppression in the area. The 200-page report covers a wide range of topics, from a timeline of the disaster to a profile of Formosa, the Taiwanese corporation allegedly causing the disaster, from the roles of civil society to the poor performance of the government in dealing with the incident. The poisoning caused massive fish death in four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue some months ago, triggering public indignation against the authorities’ mismanagement and the investor’s disobedience to rules. The disaster has left hundreds of thousands of people jobless while hundreds tourism and lodging companies face indefinite suspension. People in many parts of the country fear for toxic seafood, pushing the local aquaculture and catching in difficulties. “The disaster, however, reveals serious problems in public policy and governance that may question the government’s capacity and even legitimacy,” the report wrote. The authors described these problems as “slow response, even irresponsiveness”, “conflicting policies”, and “lack of transparency and accountability, with signs of criminal covers-up.” Members of the Green Trees on Oct 26 went to the National Assembly’s office to hand in copies of the report, saying they wanted to give the legislators an insight into the environment disaster in preparation for the ongoing meeting. However, they failed to meet any lawmakers. Staffs at the legislature told them not to come back again but rather than send the report by post. (www.bbc.co.uk Oct 26, newamericamedia.org Oct 26)