Toxic aste discharged from a Taiwanese-owned steel complex in central Vietnam harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen, the Vietnamese government said in tallying the damage from what it has called the country’s worst environmental disaster.
The pollution from a unit of Formosa Plastics Group also decimated tourism in four provinces, the Thanh Nien newspaper on Friday quoted the government saying in a report to the National Assembly.
Formosa acknowledged late last month that it was responsible for the pollution and pledged to pay 500 million to clean it up and compensate affected people. An estimated 115 tonnes of fish washed ashore along more than 200 kilometers of Vietnam’s central coast in April, the report said, adding 140 tons of farmed fish and 67 tons of farmed clams have died.
The pollution sparked rare protests across the country. The report said the government must learn from the incident and carry out proper oversight of the environment, especially when the country wants to attract more foreign investment following the signing of the 12-member trade pact, the Trans Pacific Partnership, that includes the United States and Japan.