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Hyundai Vinashin – deplorable waste
Hyundai Vinashin’s sneaky burying of tons of toxic waste in a residential area was recently condemned the local media. But the self-serving act may have repercussions that extend beyond the scope of this case alone.
Environmental police caught Hyundai Vinashin using four trucks to try to dump over 100 tons of toxic waste near a residential area of Ninh Diem commune in Ninh Hoa district of the central province of Khanh Hoa on July 8. The firm was fined only VND10 million (around $600).
Hyundai Vinashin’s violation was defined as being systematic. Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper called its act “deceit”. The act smeared the firm’s prestige.
In the current conditions, when a business’ success goes along with its prestige and its social responsibility, after Hyundai Vinashin’s act in Khanh Hoa, how many localities will open their door for the firm’s investment?
Khanh Hoa province is emerging as an easy host in accepting projects that can cause environmental pollution, with Hyundai Vinashin and Posco steel project as typical examples.
If the central provinces of Da Nang and Quang Nam are recognised as exemplary locations in protecting the environment through refusing pollution-causing projects, Khanh Hoa is being recognised as the contrary. The province’s concessions for acts like Hyundai Vinashin’s have created a bad precedent.
It is important to attract investors but luring them at any cost is not a good choice. A Thai investor in the paper industry, Chavelit Ekabut, of the SCG group, was not deterred from investing in Vietnam when he learned that a paper project, Lee&Man, was shut down for environmental pollution. From the case he learned about the way to invest in Vietnam and that Vietnam is interested in protecting the environment.
In many provinces, attracting FDI is actually the “lending of land” which doesn’t help promote the local economy and attract new technology but threatens a lot of things, especially the environment.
Vietnam has the right to choose investors and suitable technology. Investors understand it, why doesn’t Vietnam?
For the cases like Hyundai Vinashin, it is necessary to call for the authorities and businesses to behave properly but we can’t expect them to entirely monitor themselves.
The Vietnam Shipbuilding Group (Vinashin), the Vietnamese partner in Hyundai Vinashin joint venture, has not raised its voice about the case.
It is also said that in this case, the victims – 700 families in Ninh Hoa – also have not raised their voices. Instead of asking the authorities to force Hyundai Vinashin to clean the environment, the local residents silently compromised with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s resettlement plan. After that, they continued to live in the area where toxic nix beads are as high as mountains.
Tran Duc Nguyen, a former member of the Prime Minister’s Research Board, said conditions need to be created for people to raise their voices and make decisions in this case. They should not be passive to wait for the move of the state and businesses.
“700 families in Ninh Hoa need to have support to help them investigate and collect evidence about the losses that they suffered to sue Hyundai Vinashin,” Saigon Tiep Thi wrote.
VNN
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