Vietnamese fishermen descend on court to sue Taiwanese fish killer

Hundreds of people from the central province of Nghe An journeyed 200km by bus to neighboring Ha Tinh on September 26 to lodge lawsuits against the steel plant responsible for the mass fish deaths that hit a 200km stretch of the central coast in April, a local leader has said.

Vietnam's government has officially named Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, the Vietnam unit of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, as the culprit for the incident in Ha Tinh that resulted in one of the biggest environmental disasters in the country's history.

Formosa has already paid US$500 million in compensation, the Vietnamese government reported last month, but public outcry continues to rage in the streets and on social media.

Hundreds of people traveled to the provincial court in Ha Tinh to file lawsuits against the Taiwanese company, a local leader of Ha Tinh's Ky Anh District told VnExpress Tuesday. Ky Anh People’s Court also confirmed that it has received over 500 files, with the majority demanding Formosa to pay damages.

It will take time for all the files to be processed, and each case will be trialed separately if the court rules so, said a lawyer.

The toxic pollution caused by Formosa has hit at least 200,000 people where it hurts the most: their pockets, the government said in a report to the National Assembly, Vietnam's legislature, in July.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said that local authorities will receive compensation by early October to allocate to those affected by the disaster.