Marine environmental incident in central region (Photo: VNA) He made the request at the eighth meeting of theSteering Committee on stabilising the lives and production of people in fourcentral coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue,which were affected by marine environmental incident caused by Taiwanese firmFormosa in April 2016.
Following the Government’s direction, the fourprovinces established inter-sector teams to inspect and supervise compensationfor affected local people.
Binh asked the ministries of Health, and NaturalResources and Environment and relevant agencies to continue supervision onseafood and seawater quality in the four central provinces.
The health minister is responsible for testingseafood quality on the seabed, comparing it to safety indicators from otherneighbouring localities and international reference points.
“If the fish are not safe for consumption,fishermen must be banned from catching fish from the seabed”, he said.
The Deputy PM also assigned the Ministry ofNatural Resources and Environment to conduct inspections on Formosa in terms ofwaste water, emissions and solid waste, while working with the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development to review the recovery of eco-systems in thecentral coastal provinces to implement projects serving marine economic growthand tourism.
The Ministry of Public Security and Ministry ofNational Defense were requested to work to ensure order and security in thefour central provinces.
According to the report by relevant agencies atthe meeting, aquatic production, tourism and local livelihoods have graduallystabilised.
The number of fishing boats going offshore hasincreased. As many as 70-80 percent of the vessels operating near the coasthave resumed operation, while the figure is 80-90 percent for offshore fishingboats.
Seafood exploitation output in the first quarterof this year reached 25,386 tonnes, a decline of 8.8 percent compared to thesame period last year.
The total fish raising output of the fourprovinces in the first three months this year was more than 6,200 tonnes, anincrease of 3.12 percent year-on-year.
The seafood business has resumed, however,business facilities still face challenges related to infrastructure and capitalduring the recovery process.
The mass fish deaths were first reported onApril 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.
About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in thefour provinces and Thua Thien-Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farm-raised fishhad died.
The pollution also affected more than 260,000people who earn their living from the sea.
In June last year, Formosa acceptedresponsibility for the fish deaths and pledged compensation to local fishermenand to help renew the polluted marine environment.-VNA
VNA
