The unbelievable, however, has emerged as a long-established reality, says Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon in an op-ed article.

The controversy began a fortnight ago when environmental activists voiced their grave concern over the hydropower projects Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A to be invested by Duc Long-Gia Lai Group that once licensed will destroy a large area of forest in Cat Tien National Park. The results of investigative reporting that follows suit point out that there is no real scientific research conducted at all for making the environment impact statement.

The unreal statement, authored by the Southern Institute for Water Resource Planning under the Ministry of Agriculture, says that some 280 hectares of forest will be encroached by the two projects, and that within the affected area there are no rare, valuable plants or any natural ecosystem that need to be protected, says Tuoi Tre.

But Vu Ngoc Long, deputy director of the Tropical Biology Institute, who led a field trip to the forest after the environment statement was made public, ascertains that the area to be affected is primitive forest typical of Cat Tien National Park, with diverse floras and faunas. “I think those making the statement have not made the field trip to the affected area,” Long says bluntly on Tuoi Tre.

In reading the statement, experts quickly see the “control C and control V” pattern in it, which upon being published on local media has stirred up public indignation. The reality of Cat Tien National Park is not reflected in the statement, but instead, data and features of other localities, from the Mekong Delta to Quang Nam Province in the central region, are showcased.

In particular, the environment statement refers to water coconut and alluvium soil that are typical of the Mekong Delta in the project site, and even worse, it says “the projects will promote economic development of the region, especially remote districts of Quang Nam Province.”

That is a true lie.

But the statement authors bluntly reject their responsibility, and kick the ball to the court of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre, Nguyen Ngoc Anh, head of the Southern Institute for Water Resource Planning, says the statement is just an initial report, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be responsible for appraising the statement. Anh admits he has not read the statement because “I’m very busy.”

The worst is still to come, however.

Le Huy Ba, head of the Institute for Science-Technology and Environment Management, says on Sai Gon Tiep Thi that numerous wrongdoings have been found in the statement for the two hydropower projects, but it is not a single case.

“As a practitioner in the sphere, I could say up to 90% of environment impact statements have been wrongly conducted in such a way,” he affirms, hinting that numerous hydropower projects having been developed nationwide are relied on fraudulent environment statement reports.

Some 20 years ago, Ba says, environment statements were fairly objective, but the situation has changed for the worse.

Behind the true lie, according to local media, is money. It will be huge profits for owners of hydropower projects if they are approved, and it will be the easy buck for certain consulting firms making the statements.

Tuoi Tre in a statistical column, when mentioning the case at Cat Tien National Park, says that money talks, as those people charged with making the statement have done so for money only. It is no wonder why flooding has occurred more frequently, and hydropower projects have spread like a plague.

Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon pinpoints the conflict of interests relating to the preparation of environment statements now.

In the case of Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A projects, the environment statement is funded by Duc Long-Gia Lai Group as the project owner. This conflict of interests should have been addressed by policymakers, and State agencies as the protector of interests of the nation and the community should hire a third party to conduct a scientific research to yield an objective report.

“It is unimaginable that such an illogical mechanism has existed for long. It is no wonder that forests are thinning out, pollution is on the increase and the environment is worsening nationwide,” says the weekly magazine.

With so many hydropower projects in the country, if the mechanism is not remedied, there will come a time when the environment problem reaches the level of a catastrophe in vast swaths of the nation.

Source: SaigonTimes.