Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said yesterday.
The factory, owned by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業), said in June that it was responsible for the pollution that killed large numbers of fish off the central Vietnamese coast in April, and pledged to pay US$500 million to clean it up and compensate affected people.
The pollution created the nation’s worst environmental disaster, devastating the regional fishing and tourism industries, and sparked protests in Vietnam.
Photo: Reuters
Catholic priest Dang Huu Nam, who led the group of fishermen, said 506 petitions had been submitted to the People’s Court in Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh Province, where the massive fish kill occurred.
“Based on the fact that Formosa admitted their mistake, based on the Vietnamese laws and the losses suffered by the fishermen, they have submitted their claims and they demand that Formosa be closed and compensate their losses, as well as material and health losses they may suffer in the future,” Nam said by telephone from the courthouse.
Local court officials were not available for comment.
The priest said many more fishermen are completing their files and he expected more than 100,000 fishermen to file petitions.
He said the fishermen on Monday traveled 200km in 15 buses to the People’s Court in Ky Anh, which received 199 petitions on Monday and another 307 yesterday.
About 5,000 people from the town gathered outside the courthouse on Monday to show their support, he said.
Nam said the court would decide whether to process or reject their claims, or refer their cases to a higher authority.
Under Vietnamese law, the claims must be filed individually.
Lawyer Tran Vu Hai said the fishermen’s actions to file their claims may not lead to their cases being brought to trial, but could open a way for Formosa and the fishermen to “talk directly with each other” for a negotiated deal.
An estimated 115 tonnes of fish washed ashore along more than 200km of the central coast in April, the government said in a report to the National Assembly in July.
The disaster harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen, it said.
Formosa Ha Tinh’s steel complex includes a steel plant, a power plant and a deep sea port.
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