Ha Tinh reviews responsibility in Formosa Disaster

The mass fish deaths in four central provinces caused by Formosa Ha Tinh over 4 months ago was the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Vietnam.

After the incident, lessons on sustainable development, economic development that must go hand in hand with social development and environmental protection became ever more evident. With the focus on remedial measures, Ha Tinh is taking measures to identify responsibilities for the incident.

Ha Tinh Department of Natural Resources and Environment. A review has been held to determine the responsibility of individuals and groups related to the discharge of Formosa company that polluted the environment.

All issues related to state management of the environment were raised and discussed. After the review, group responsibility, and particularly individual responsibility has been gradually clarified.

Vo Ta Dinh, Director, Ha Tinh Department of Natural Resources and Environment said: I was assigned by the province to advise on environmental problems in the locality. I feel the incident was my responsibility. But also I’d like to share that this was a major national project. My abilities and experience is limited. Furthermore, this project was approved by the central government authority and the law implied that the agency that gave approval would be responsible for inspection and monitoring. I was slow discovering this and feel responsible".

It isn’t only the environmental department, other units such public security, the provincial economic management board, and Kỳ Anh Town’s authorities are also conducting reviews, not just to learn from the experience, but also to be more aware of the weaknesses and propose remedies to deal with such issues should they arise in the future.

Nguyen Quoc Ha, Chairman, ofKy Anh Town People’s Committee, Ha Tinh Prov. said: "Regarding the state management of environment, it has been too hands-off. Especially the actual implementation of regulations and co-ordination with the management of Vung Ang Formosa Economic Zone based on Decree 35 of the Natural Resources and Environment, wasn’t good. From here we’ll develop better regulations on co-ordination between the Economic Zone Management Board and Kỳ Anh town authorities".

To let such an environment disaster happen was beyond the control of the locality, but the provincial party committee said it would continue to hold the organisations and individuals concerned in the incident responsible.

Le Dinh Son, Secretary, Ha Tinh Party Committees said: "This is something that nobody wanted to happen, but it was beyond people’s ability to foresee, possibly due to our lack of qualifications, problems with monitoring, or the technology that we lacked, and the conditions at that time that led to serious problems. So the responsibility of organisations and individuals should be closely examined".

Under the plan, Tinh Provincial Party will conduct a review. The responsibility of the provincial leaders in terms of the run-up to the incident will be clarified.

After the incident, Ha Tinh is learning a harsh lesson: that short-term gains cannot be traded off against sustainable and growth development, and such objectives must go hand in hand with environmental protection.