Dong Nai farmers agree to drop lawsuit against river polluter

The majority of affected farmers in Dong Nai province have voted to accept Vedan Vietnam's compensation offer for its polluting the Thi Vai River between 1994-2008.

On Friday and Saturday, August 27-28, representatives from the Dong Nai Farmers Association said that more than 5,000 surveys were distributed to the affected farmers.

All but 13 farmers opted to accept Vedan’s offer to pay a total of VND119.5 billion (US$6.1 million) in compensation, the association said.  

They have also agreed to drop their private suits against the company.

In addition to the 13 farmers who opted to take up lawsuits against Vedan, 41 farmers have refused to drop their existing suits against the Taiwanese MSG manufacturer, the farmers association said.

Tran Van Quang, vice chairman of the Dong Nai Farmers Association, said they will ask the Dong Nai People’s Committee how to handle the hold-outs.

Still, many farmers who agreed to Vedan’s offer said they aren’t really satisfied with the compensation, but they are relieved that they will get something for their trouble, VnExpress reported.

“Most of the people here agreed [to the offer]; I couldn’t refuse it, as majority rules,” Bui Ngoc Truyen from Long Thanh District, told the news website, adding that about ten farmers authorized him to vote for them.

Some said they accepted the offer, because they don't see any hope in suing the company.

In 2008, Vedan was caught discharging untreated effluents directly into the Thi Vai River through secret underground pipes.

Government inspectors found that the company had been doing so for some 14 years.

The discovery sparked public outcry which kept going up as the company declined to meet the compensation requests of the affected farmers. Over the past year, it had extended meager offers to the farmers.

This prompted pledges from authorities in Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province to help the affected farmers.

Vicitms of the pollution in the hardest hit province of Dong Nai, however, were largely left in the dust.

The Dong Nai Farmers Association had, at one stage, declined to back affected farmers in filing a lawsuit against the company.

Representatives from the association claimed it would be too difficult to prove the extent of the damage caused by the company in court.

Farmers willing to go ahead with the lawsuit were backed by lawyers from HCMC who expressed confidence in a victory. Later, Dong Nai authorities ordered local lawyers to join the cause.

Following a widescale public outcry and consumer boycotting, early this month Vedan agreed to pay farmers in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and HCMC VND53.6 billion (S$2.8 million), and VND45.7 billion (US$2.39 million), respectively.

It also offered to pay Dong Nai's farmers $ 6.1 million, but the provincial authorities since then were yet to come to conclusion on the offer.

The sums were authorized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 

So far farmers in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and HCMC have received 50 percent of the promised compensation.The other half of the compensation is expected to be paid out by January 14, 2011.

Until then, the affected farmers in both of these localities have agreed to postpone their lawsuits against Vedan.

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Major retailer resumes sales of Vedan products

Local supermarket chain Saigon Co.op has announced it will resume sales of Vedan seasoning products on Monday after the environmental polluter agreed to pay compensation to affected farmers.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy general director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based retailer, said Saturday that the Taiwanese monosodium glutamate (MSG) maker has shown its “goodwill” by promising compensation to local farmers.

As a result, Saigon Co.op will give it another chance and resume sales of its products, he said.

Saigon Co.op owns 45 supermarkets nationwide and reportedly holds a market share of over 50 percent in the country’s modern retail sector.

Vedan products were pulled from shelves at all Saigon Co.op outlets on August 5.

Other supermarkets soon followed suit and the boycott campaign, the first ever in the country, eventually forced Vedan to accept responsibility for damages caused by its fourteen year pollution of the Thi Vai River.

The boycott by retailers was prompted by the fact that customers were refusing to buy Vedan products, unhappy with the company's stalling tactics in paying compensation to affected farmers. 

The river polluter has pledged to pay a total of VND219 billion in restitution to affected farmers in Dong Nai Province, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Ho Chi Minh City.

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Farmers withdraw suits against Vedan

More than 1,250 lawsuits filed by farmers in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province against Taiwanese MSG-maker Vedan Vietnam have been withdrawn after Vedan paid compensation to the farmers on Wednesday.

The lawsuits were filed to collect compensation for damage to farmland caused by the company's illegal discharge of untreated waste water into the Thi Vai River.

Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, the lawyer representing farmers in the province's Tan Thanh district, withdrew the lawsuits after Vedan paid VND26.8 billion to 1,255 local farmers affected.

Tran Van Cuong, deputy head of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the company on Tuesday transferred half of the total VND53.6 billion ($2.8 million) compensation for Tan Thanh district's farmers.

The company also paid VND500 million ($26,000) to cover costs of calculating the losses by Tan Thanh district authorities.

Cuong said the provincial People's Committee would entrust Tan Thanh District authorities to draw up a list of names of farmers and the payment amounts. The disbursement would then be conducted within the next five days.

In addition, Vedan on Tuesday transferred VND22.9 billion to the bank accounts of farmers in HCMC's Can Gio District, the only area in the city affected by the pollution.

They also gave VND500 million ($26,000) to Can Gio district authorities to cover the costs of calculating the losses.

In Dong Nai, farmers have yet to agree on the amount of compensation and they continue to file lawsuits against Vedan with more than 4,000 applications.

Dong Nai Province People's Committee has ordered the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to visit the affected areas to talk to farmers and calculate the amount of financial losses and measure the land area affected by the pollution.

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Farmers withdraw suits against Vedan

More than 1,250 lawsuits filed by farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province against Taiwanese MSG-maker Vedan Vietnam have been withdrawn after Vedan paid compensation to the farmers on Wednesday.

The lawsuits were filed to collect compensation for damage to farmland caused by the company's illegal discharge of untreated waste water into the Thi Vai River.

Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, the lawyer representing farmers in the province's Tan Thanh district, withdrew the lawsuits after Vedan paid 26.8 billion VND to 1,255 local farmers affected.

Tran Van Cuong, deputy head of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the company on August 17 transferred half of the total 53.6 billion VND (2.8 million USD) compensation for Tan Thanh district's farmers.

The company also paid 500 million VND (26,000 USD) to cover costs of calculating the losses by Tan Thanh district authorities.

Cuong said the provincial People's Committee would entrust Tan Thanh District authorities to draw up a list of names of farmers and the payment amounts. The disbursement would then be conducted within the next five days.

In addition, Vedan on August 17 transferred 22.9 billion VND to the bank accounts of farmers in HCM City's Can Gio district, the only area in the city affected by the pollution.

They also gave 500 million VND (26,000 USD) to Can Gio district authorities to cover the costs of calculating the losses.

In Dong Nai province, farmers have yet to agree on the amount of compensation and they continue to file lawsuits against Vedan with more than 4,000 applications.

Dong Nai provincial People's Committee has ordered the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to visit the affected areas to talk to farmers and calculate the amount of financial losses and measure the land area affected by the pollution./.

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Boycott fear forces river polluter payout

Consumers succeed where governments failed as Vedan capitulates on compensation demand

Products of Taiwanese-owned monosodium glutamate maker Vedan were taken off the shelves at a Saigon Co.op supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. Officials said the boycott of Vedan’s products at local retailers has partly prompted the company to accept the compensation claims of afected farmers.

Taiwanese river polluter Vedan Vietnam has caved in to public anger and agreed to pay full compensation to affected farmers after playing hard to get for more than a year.

Nguyen Thai Lai, deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, informed the press on Monday (August 9) that the MSG maker has committed to paying farmers in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau compensation of VND45.7 billion (US$2.39 million) and VND53.6 billion ($2.8 million) respectively.

These are sums calculated by the Institute for Environment and Resources under direction from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and later approved by local governments.

At the time of the announcement, Vedan and authorities in the southern province Dong Nai hadn’t reached an agreement on the compensation, but two days later, the company offered the province nearly VND119.6 billion ($6.26 million) as estimated by the institute.

Dong Nai’s authorities have not commented on the offer thus far.

While authorities in other two localities committed their support to farmers, authorities in the most affected province, Dong Nai, were reticent about applying pressure on the company despite the prolonged damage it had willfully inflicted on the local environment.

The Dong Nai Farmers’ Association had, at one stage, declined to back affected farmers in filing a lawsuit against the company on the grounds they would find it difficult to prove the extent of damage suffered in court.

Farmers willing to go ahead with the lawsuit were backed by lawyers from HCMC who felt they had every chance of winning the lawsuit, and later by local lawyers as ordered by Dong Nai’s authorities.

Vedan Vietnam was caught in 2008 discharging untreated effluents directly into the Thi Vai River in Dong Nai Province through secret underground pipes. It had been doing this for 14 years, inflicting serious damage on the river system, fish farms as well as rice fields located on the banks of the river.

While it admitted its culpability, the company had balked at paying the compensation demanded by affected farmers in three localities. During the negotiations, it refused to accept the calculation of compensation with various arguments, despite repeated pleas by all the affected governments for a more reasonable settlement offer. On the farmer’s side, the initial demand for compensation was whittled down many times.

It said it was not solely responsible for the pollution, that the calculations of damage were groundless, and that its own findings indicated much lower levels of damage.

However, Vedan has become “clearly aware” of its responsibilities to pay compensation to farmers affected by its polluting the Thi Vai River, Lai said at the press briefing.

The company has also realized that it is facing a high risk of being boycotted in Vietnam and that thousands of farmers were currently filing lawsuits against it, Lai said.

The Saigon Co.op and Big C supermarket chains announced last week that they had stopped selling Vedan products.

“Vedan’s leaders want to end the case and don’t want farmers to bring it to court,” Lai said.

“We hope that Vedan Company will continue operating efficiently and for the long-term in Vietnam on condition that it properly compensates affected farmers for what it caused,” he added.

In an interview with press agencies after the meeting, Vedan Vietnam General Director Yang Kun Hsiang said they will pay 50 percent of the compensation within one week of signing an agreement with authorities in HCMC and Ba RiaVung Tau, and the other 50 percent will be paid next January.

Hsiang made the same proposal in a written offer of compensation sent to Dong Nai People’s Committee on Wednesday.

Hsiang said his company hadn’t agreed to pay compensation as claimed at first because they needed time to verify the conclusions reached by the Institute for Environment and Resources.

Vedan had maintained earlier that the conclusions were illogical and made counter offers that were rejected as too low by farmers and authorities.

The company initially offered VND7 billion to Dong Nai, then raised it to VND15 billion and later to VND30 billion. The offer to Ba Ria-Vung Tau started as low as VND6 billion, and was later raised to VND10 billion, while HCMC was offered VND7 billion at first, and VND12 and VND16 billion later.

It’s not over

However, Vedan’s latest move doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be freed from legal procedures.

Tran Van Cuong, vice director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said local authorities cannot say whether affected farmers will withdraw their lawsuit after Vedan’s capitulation.

Nguyen Van Phung, chairman of HCMC Farmers’ Association said that while waiting for compensation agreements to be signed, affected farmers in Can Gio District will continue with their lawsuits.

“Our viewpoint is that everything will only end after Vedan pays the compensation,” he said. “I believe that when Vedan agrees to pay, Can Gio farmers will not want to file lawsuits.”

Nguyen Duc, chairman of Dong Nai Bar Association, also said its lawyers will continue helping local farmers complete procedures to file lawsuits against Vedan.

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Farmers to drop lawsuits following Vedan payout agreement

Farmers in Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province said they will drop their lawsuits against the MSG manufacturer, Vedan Vietnam, if the river-polluter fully follows-through with its compensation committments.

On Monday, Vedan agreed to compensate farmers in Can Gio a total of VND45.7 billion (US$2.39 million) for damages caused by its fourteen year pollution of the Thi Vai River.  

For the past year, the Taiwanese-owned manufacturer has turned down the district’s compensation requests and made meager counter-offers to affected farmers.

On Friday, representatives from the Can Gio District Farmers Association in HCMC signed an agreement to postpone litigation on the condition that Vedan pays out 50 percent of the sums promised within the next week.

The second half of the compensation will be paid by January 14, 2011; the money will be guaranteed by the Bangkok Bank Public Co., Ltd. in HCMC, according to the agreement.

Farmers in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau signed a similar agreement [for VND53.6 billion (US$2.8 million) the same day.

In the meantime, authorities in the southern province of Dong Nai, the area most affected by Vedan’s pollution, have yet to respond to the company’s offer of nearly VND120 billion ($6.29 million).

The Dong Nai farmers are expected to reach a decision after a meeting between authorities and related agencies next Monday.

Meanwhile, local farmers are still filing lawsuits against Vedan, according to Nguyen Duc, Chairman of the Dong Nai Bar Association. Duc said that, so far, they have received 2,500 petitions from farmers, nearly half of which have been filed in court.

In an unrelated river pollution case, authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai Friday asked the Quang Ngai Sugar Joint Stock Company, to meet with affected farmers to formulate a compensation package.

The company was caught discharging untreated wastewater into the Tra Khuc River from May, 2009 until April 2010. Over 420 farmer families in Son Tinh District and Quang Ngai Town have claimed damages worth nearly VND3.9 billion ($204,724).

If the two parties can’t reach an agreement, local agencies will help farmers bring the company to court, according to the Quang Ngai People’s Committee.

The company’s crime was discovered in early May when tons of assorted marine creatures and thousands of ducks were found dead along the river.

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