Formosa fined for fish deaths

The Taiwanese company faces a fine of $500 million for its violations

After a two-month probe into the cause of mass fish deaths in four central coastal provinces including Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue, the Government Office’s Minister and Chairman Mai Tien Dung declared at last week’s packed media conference that “Violations and incidents at the construction site and testing operations in the complex of Formosa Ha Tinh are the cause of major environmental pollution, killing a massive amount of fish in four provinces, from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue in April.”

The violations were announced based on objective and scientific evidence thoroughly studied by ministries, institutes, and over 100 local and foreign scientists and experts, Dung said. “The discovery of the violator has shown the government’s firm attitude to punish all violators.”

Imploring forgiveness from the Vietnamese people, Chen Yuan-Cheng, chairman of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a unit of Formosa Plastics Corp., said in a nationally-televised video recording that “We claim responsibility and heartily apologise to the people of Vietnam, especially those in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue. The company apologises to the Party, the state, the national assembly, the government and the prime minister for having caused the environmental incident, seriously affecting the production, employment, and environment of the provinces.”

“We promise never to repeat such actions,” Cheng said, adding that “We would like to receive sympathy from the Party, the state, and the people of Vietnam.”

Meanwhile, in late April when the scandal first occurred, amid allegations that Formosa was the very perpetrator, the company’s leadership said it was “deeply surprised and sorry,” and that there was no proof linking it to the fish deaths. At that time, Formosa said its $10.5 billion project had a $45 million waste water treatment system, which had all the appropriate regulatory permits and met national standards.

A deal was signed last week between Formosa Ha Tinh and Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), stating that Formosa must compensate over VND11.5 trillion ($500 million) for the damages it had caused. Formosa must support local people who have lost employment due to the scandal, clean the polluted sea. The firm is also forced to upgrade its technology so that such a scandal will not be repeated.

“The $500 million in my opinion is still too small a sum. It is a rough calculation based on the damages to residents and the sea. It does not include other intangible damages such as psychological hurt and future corollaries,” said MoNRE Minister Tran Hong Ha. “We have required Formosa to change its technology and clearly address the environmental pollution it caused.”

However, despite such a colossal violation, Formosa has failed to face criminal charges, even though it has seriously affected the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of fishermen, restaurant owners, and makers of traditional Vietnamese fish sauce along more than 200 kilometres of coasts.

“Formosa has admitted its fault to the Party, the government, and the people of Vietnam, and also made commitments to support affected people and promised to not repeat its violations,” Dung said. “Vietnam’s government always strictly punish violators, but we also have a tolerant policy for investors. If investors pledge to obey Vietnam’s laws, the laws will also ensure they operate effectively.”

In March 2015, a scaffold collapse killed 14 people and injured 30 others at the Formosa steel complex.

In July 2014, two Vietnamese workers were killed and three others were severely injured after a scaffold collapsed at the construction site of a water plant that belongs to the complex.

RELATED CONTENTS:
	Formosa claims responsibility for mass dying of fish in central coast
	Gov’t to organize press conference on causes of mass fish deaths
	Export seafood quality not affected by mass fish deaths: VASEP
	Companies fined USD181,800 for mass fish deaths in Thanh Hoa
	Ho Chi Minh City’s iconic canal filled with dead fish after downpour
	Vietnamese sugar plant pays damages to fish farmers after causing mass fish deaths
	Report on mass fish deaths finally published this week
	Foreign scientists help Vietnam unravel mass fish deaths
	PM works with local authorities on mass fish deaths