Dong Nai Province’s authorities earlier ruled out the plants but the investor, Duc Long Gia Lai Group, is still pushing for the projects.
Answering National Assembly (NA) deputies a few days ago, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has yet to announce a deadline for assessment and approval of the environmental impact assessment reports.
Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade still maintained its viewpoint that the projects should not be expanded if they are proved to cause adverse impacts on the environment, ecology and society.
Dong Nai’s government on October 31 sent a petition to the Government to cancel the projects due to potential and severe environmental damage on the lower land and the Cat Tien National Park, which is being considered by UNESCO for recognition as a world natural heritage.
The investor, however, is determined not to give up on the two projects. Speaking in Hanoi last Thursday, the company’s leaders said they will provide accurate information on the two projects to speed up legal procedures.
Duc Long Gia Lai Group chairman Bui Phap said that the two projects with the combined capacity of 241 MW are far from Bau Sau and Nam Cat Tien, two important areas with great impacts on the biodiversity of the Cat Tien National Park.
Despite the high capital, the projects still need small reservoirs and no families will be displaced. The plants will supply nearly one billion kilowatts of low-priced electricity to the national grid, meeting the power demands of three provinces.
Besides, the projects will have social and economic effects, contributing VND15 trillion to the State budget in its 40 years of operation and developing nearby infrastructures.
Source: VietNamNet/SGT
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