Taiwanese condiment manufacturer Vedan Enterprise Corp (味丹) has rejected compensation demands from Vietnamese farmers for polluting a river, saying the request for US$34 million was too high, officials said yesterday.
Farmers’ associations in the three southern provinces affected by the pollution are to meet on Thursday to discuss their strategy, said Trinh Nhu Do, chairman of the Dong Nai Province Farmers’ Association.
Vedan lawyer Hoang Nhu Vinh said the farmers’ request for US$34 million was too high and had no legal basis, the state-run newspaper Tuoi Tre reported. Vinh said farmers’ losses had not been verified by competent agencies, and that Vedan would agree to pay only US$1.4 million.
Do said Vedan had argued that Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment found 70 other firms had also contributed to polluting the Thi Vai River.
But senior environment ministry official Bui Cach Tuyen said his ministry had made no such finding.
“That is just what Vedan says,” Tuyen said. “If they really send official documents to inform us that they refuse to compensate the farmers, let’s see what will happen.”
Vedan initially offered to voluntarily compensate farmers for their losses in March on condition the farmers agreed not to sue the company.
From the mid-1990s until last year, Vedan’s condiment factory in Dong Nai Province illegally discharged untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River through concealed pipes. The pollution severely damaged the stocks of local fish and shrimp farmers.
In October, Vedan was ordered to suspend operation and pay a US$7.7 million fine.
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