The China Post
Date: September 28, 2016
By: AP
HANOI — Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese
FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2016 file photo, Vietnamese activists shout slogans and hold placards reading ”Destroying the environment is killing, “left, and ”Return clean seawater to us” during a protest to urge Formosa Plastics Group to take responsibilities for the cleanup in Vietnam, in Taipei, Taiwan. Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)
steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said Tuesday.
The factory, owned by the Formosa Plastics Group, acknowledged in June that it was responsible for the pollution that killed large numbers of fish off the central Vietnamese coast in April, and pledged to pay US$500 million to clean it up and compensate affected people. The pollution created the country’s worst environmental disaster, devastating the regional fishing and tourism industries, and sparked rare protests in the Communist country.
Catholic priest Dang Huu Nam, who led the group of local fishermen, said 506 petitions have been submitted to a local court in Ky Anh town in central Ha Tinh province where the massive fish kill occurred.
“Based on the fact that Formosa admitted their mistake, based on the Vietnamese laws and the losses suffered by the fishermen, they have submitted their claims and they demand that Formosa be closed and compensate their losses as well as material and health losses they may suffer in the future,” Nam said Tuesday by telephone from the courthouse.
Local court officials were not available for comment. [FULL STORY]
