HANOI - Vietnam's environmental issues have been pushed to the forefront after
reports that a Taiwanese MSG producer had been dumping untreated wastewater
into the Thi Vai River, in the southern province of Dong Nai. What has left
many shaken is the sheer extent of the problem in the country.
Vedan, the MSG (monosodium glutamate - used as a flavoring agent) producer, was
found to have been pumping its wastewater into the river for more than 10
years, and had been avoiding detection by hiding pipes deep in the river. Since
the story broke, environmental authorities and local government have been
publicly
blaming each other for gross oversight.
It was an open secret that a stretch of the Thi Vai River had gone "dead". A
2006 report by the Vietnam Environmental Protection Agency (VEPA) had made that
clear, and also detailed severe pollution in other rivers in Vietnam's north.
Numerous other factories have been profiled in the press and it is estimated
that less than one-third of the factories have adequate treatment facilities.
It is somewhat ironic that the scandal broke in Dong Nai, which is home to a
new, ambitious environmental scheme. The Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)
pilot project involves upstream "sellers", usually local farmers, receiving
money from enterprises downstream, such as hydroelectric plants, for
maintaining the purity of the Dong Nai watershed.
Though it was the Thi Vai river, not the Dong Nai, that Vedan polluted, Jim
Peters, chief of Winrock International, one of the international organizations
involved in implementation of the PES scheme, said: "I think there will be
linkages ... customers pay for water quality ... even if forest dwellers are
provided clean water, if the water they're getting is not high quality, payment
will be reduced.''
But he was also clear that Winrock does not deal in 'brown' issues and more
assessment is needed before conclusions can be reached.
What is clear is that the Vietnam's development, which has contributed to a
rapid rise in the communist nation's economy and poverty alleviation, is now
being reflected in its poisoned rivers and worsening air pollution. It's a path
many other countries have been down.
"You're taking out your natural capital to provide jobs. The traditional path
has been to use that capital and reinvest in it later with better pollution
control," Peters said.
Worsening environmental conditions could lead to economic damage, something
that is already happening in some areas. Aquaculture is being affected, and in
July it was reported that ships would not dock in the southern port of Go Dau,
for fear that hulls would be corroded by the polluted water.
Vietnam's lack of development in some areas has also played a role in water
pollution, with most of the nation's 1,000-plus craft villages using outdated
equipment and dumping waste directly into the waterways.
The damage goes beyond the rivers. Ha Long Bay, one of north Vietnam's most
popular tourist spots and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has suffered thanks to
rapid development and a busy tourist trade. Much of the coral has died off, and
the mangroves are in poor shape.
"The death of the coral isn't new, it's known about," Mike Haynes told Inter
Press Service. A freelance environmental consultant, Haynes has spent years
working in the bay. "It's not directly related to pollution; it's sedimentation
from hundreds of different issues." Soil erosion from building projects in the
rapidly developing coastal city is one of the leading contributors.
"There are oil slicks in tourist areas and rubbish pollution is a big problem
up and down Vietnam,'' Haynes said. Ha Long Bay receives over 2 million
visitors a year.
Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, 35, has lived on a boat with her family on the Red River
in Hanoi for 10 years, eking a living from smalltime fishing and whatever odd
jobs she can pick up to support her three children.
"I don't use this water for cooking," she told IPS. "It's very dirty because of
the garbage and household sewerage, and effluents from the factories nearby."
Bui Van Kim, a pottery trader, who travels up and down the Red River, said,
"The countryside is as bad as the city." He has seen the river get worse in
recent years, but says it still isn't as bad as his hometown Duc Bac, in nearby
Vinh Phuc province, where the Lo and Dai Rivers flow.
"As a citizen I think it's really bad and I don't know how to ask for help.
Everything in my village is really polluted,'' the trader said.
Residents have to buy clean water from elsewhere, he said, and his doctor has
suggested his skin rash was a result of the water his shirts are washed in.
School teacher Tran Van Khanh, 31, a Duc Bac resident, has been conducting his
own small tests on the waters and people in his village. He reckons some 65% of
people suffer from some kind of health problem including cancer, and kidney
stones which are the result of the high amounts of contaminants in the water.
"The local government does care," he told IPS via phone, "but they can't do
much. They want a clean water system but it's hard to realize."
It's a common complaint. Vietnam has environmental laws many see as
progressive, but enforcement at a local level continues to be difficult. That,
coupled with fines which are largely symbolic, is seen as the country's
greatest hurdle in overcoming its darkening environmental record.
Inspectors of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment have in the
past found Vedan had polluted the environment and Dong Nai fined the company
three times, totaling more than 20 million dong (US$1,300), Vietnam Business
Finance website reported in September, citing Le Viet Hung, director of the
Dong Nai Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.
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