VietNamNet Bridge – The local people in the industrial town area of Lao Cai province wish they can leave the town one day to escape from the pollution. But they don’t have money to leave and don’t know where to go.
Ten years ago, there was only one phosphorus factory in Lao Cai, while there are five now. The road to the Khe Chom hamlet of Tang Loong town has become crowded with heavy traffic. The hamlet has become noisier because of the noise from the factories. Meanwhile, the life of the local people has got more suffocated because of the worse environment conditions.
The Tang Loong Industrial Zone in Lao Cai province covers an area of 1,100 hectares, including 631.6 hectares of land for industrial production. To date, 70 percent of the land in the IZ has been occupied by the investors in the fields of mining and heavy industries.
“The air is seriously polluted here,” said Pham Van Manh, a local resident in Khe Chom hamlet.
“We were told that the local authorities would help us resettle in a new area, but we still have to keep waiting,” he added. “We really want to leave immediately. We don’t want to breathe the dusty air and smell the bad odor from the rivers any more”.
Manh said that in May and June 2013, local people saw the smoke and fire on the streams at night. They then reported to the local authorities about the strange phenomenon. However, no one has given the answer about it so far.
Tieu Thi Sai, also a resident in Khe Chom hamlet, said since the day the phosphorus factories became operational, a lot of buffalos and cows have died because they drank the polluted water; trees have got withered, while fishe and shrimp have disappeared.
“I have lost 10 buffalos and cows so far because of the poisonous water, which has changed its color and gives a strange smell,” Sai said.
However, Manh and Sai, and the other local people cannot do anything to escape from the pollution.
“We have many times lodged complaints to the local authorities. We even tried to dam up and block the streams. However, the dams were later broken by the factories’ excavators,” she added.
Tran Ngoc Oanh, Chair of the Tang Loong town people’s Committee, said the environment pollution can be seen with naked eyes. However, it is still necessary to wait for the conclusions from the competent agencies about the pollution levels and the methods to settle the problem.
Meanwhile, Luu Duc Cuong, Deputy Head of the Lao Cai provincial environment sub-department, said it is very difficult to calculate the damages and the compensations the factories have to make.
“The competent agencies can catch factories discharging waste water or throwing solid waste. Meanwhile, it is very difficult to examine the exhaust fumes,” he explained.
Also according to Cuong, 63 local households have received the financial support from the enterprises and have left for the resettlement areas. The other 69 households would surely be able to leave in 2014.
Lao Dong