A resident in Phu Loc district's Loc Dien commune receives compensation (Source: VNA)
Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – About 147 billion VND (over 6.6 million USD) of compensation from Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation was distributed to people affected by the marine environment incident in 20 out of 29 coastal communes in the central province of Thua Thien Hue in the first phase as of October 31.
The districts of Phu Loc and Phu Vang completed the compensation delivery in the phase, with over 63 billion VND (2.83 million USD) and over 58 billion VND (2.61 million USD), respectively.
The local authorities continue counting families and individuals that have been affected by the incident, sparked by Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh, with the aim of ensuring legitimate benefits for locals.
Teams in charge of delivering the compensation were set up, focusing on supervising the compensation delivery and addressing local residents’ difficulties.
According to preliminary statistics, 3,988 ships with 7,204 fishermen in Thua Thien-Hue have been affected by the incident. Nearly 24,000 sq.m of aquaculture area was damaged, making about 10,000 labourers lose incomes.
Operations of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd resulted in mass fish deaths along the coast of the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue between April and May. The pollution damaged about 400 hectares of coral and affected over 260,000 people who earned their living in sea-related activities.
The firm compensated over 11.5 trillion VND (500 million USD) to support local fishermen switch to other jobs and recover the polluted maritime environment. It also vowed to deal with shortcomings in waste and wastewater treatment.
Total compensation for those affected by the incident in Thua Thien-Hue is nearly 750 billion VND (33.75 million USD), 400 billion VND of which has been disbursed in the first phase.-VNA
