PM visits fishermen in Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri provinces

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits Cua Viet fishing port in Quang Tri province (Photo: VNA)

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 16 visited the central province of Thua Thien-Hue to inspect the compensation payments for local fishermen affected by the Formosa-related marine environmental incident and residents’ efforts to stabilise their lives.

The incident occurred in April 2016, directly affecting production and lives of 46,218 people in Phong Dien, Quang Dien, Phu Vang and Phu Loc districts and Huong Tra town in the province.

The total compensation for Thua Thien-Hue was 980.3 billion VND (42.8 million USD), including 382.4 billion VND (16.7 million USD) for Phu Vang district. 

PM Phuc lauded the province for completing the compensation payments as directed by the government to help local residents stabilise their lives soon.

He asked the provincial authorities to provide more vocational training for local residents in other fields besides seafood catching such as garment-textiles, footwear, labour export, and tourism.

Leaving Thua Thien-Hue, PM Phuc visited fishermen at Cua Viet fishing port in Gio Linh district of Quang Tri province, one of the most seriously affected localities by the marine environmental incident.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits Cua Viet fishing port (Photo: VNA)

Local fishermen expressed their satisfaction over the State’s compensation and assistance.

The PM asked Quang Tri authorities to increase support for fishermen to improve their fishing activities.

As scheduled, the government leader will chair a national conference reviewing the performance of the steering committee for solutions to stabilising lives, production and business for people in the four central provinces affected by the incident.

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. About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces. 

In late June 2016, Taiwan-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company admitted responsibility for the environmental incident, paying 500 million USD (11.5 trillion VND) as compensation for affected people.-VNA