Thua Thien-Hue: Effective use of Formosa compensation
Residents and fishermen in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue affected by the environmental incident in 2016 have made effective use of compensation from the Taiwanese-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation.
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Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phuong said the money has been spent to build high-capacity fishing vessels and buy new fishing gear.
The province’s Phu Loc district continued to dole out the compensation worth VND149 billion (US$6.57 million) to 7,484 people from April 13.
The receivers include ship owners and employers, fishermen, aquaculture production households and cooperatives and fish sauce producers.
The mass fish deaths were first reported on April 6, 2016 when a large number of fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh province. The incident also occurred in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces.
About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces and Thua Thien-Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farm-raised fish had died.
The pollution also affected more than 260,000 people who earn their living from the sea.
In June last year, Formosa accepted responsibility for the mass fish deaths and pledged compensation to local fishermen and to help renew the polluted marine environment.
