Vietnam Parliament to Continue Monitoring Formosa Case: Chairwoman

Vietnam’s highest legislature National Assembly (NA) will continue supervising the case in which Taiwan-invested Formosa Hung Nghiep Ha Tinh Steel Corporation poisons Vietnam’s sea by untreated wastewater, state media reported, citing the NA’s chairwoman. The parliament will give a close watch on the issue to ensure no recurrence and strict compliance of law on environmental protection, the NA’s Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said at a press conference last weekend. But she gave no detail measures for the supervision and affirmed no plan to set up an independent agency to supervise the case as proposed earlier by lawmaker Truong Trong Nghia, saying that the government has mobilized a large number of state agencies, domestic and foreign scientists to force Formosa to commit guilty. It is unsure if the NA’s pledge is trustworthy. Concerning responsibilities for the case, relating to the license of the steel complex project which costs roughly $10 billion, and the land lease contract for the Taiwanese company, former Chairman of Ha Tinh People’s Committee Vo Kim Cu who is currently head of Vietnam Cooperative Alliance is the main involver. In response to public concerns after days of silence during the ongoing NA’s meeting, he said he had “involvement” in the license. Saying in interviews with local media on the sidelines of the NA’s session, Mr. Cu said the government has no plan to halt the operation of Formosa or dismiss him from his post. Giving comment on the move, economist Le Dang Doanh said that the case remains much to say and it is challenging both the government and the parliament due to public protest. Lawmaker Tran Hoang Ngan told local media earlier that the government needs to consider the existence of Formosa in Vietnam to ensure environmental protection. Recently, authorities in the central province of Ha Tinh have found many places in Ky Anh township where Formosa’s waste was dumped without permission. Pham Van Hung, head of Ky Anh’s Bureau of Natural Resources and Environment, told the Lao Dong newspaper that the waste was illegally buried between 2011 and 2014, before Formosa made trial run of its huge steel mill. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon – The Saigon Times July 26, Thanh Nien – Young People July 24, VnExpress.net July 23)