March 15, 2009
Plans by the Hanoi government to move forward with controversial bauxite mining projects have sparked significant protest. In an effort to see first-hand the ramifications of these projects, Viet Tan member Ly Nam Binh travelled to the two primary sites in the Central Highlands where work has commenced: Nhan Co village in Dak Nong province and Bao Lam district in nearby Lam Dong province. The following is based on reports filed by Ly Nam Binh with Radio New Horizon (Chan Troi Moi).
Nhan Co village, Dak Nong province
From the entrance of the village and in the village, there were no signs that this is the bauxite mining project site. Workers wore uniforms that read “Mining Project Employee” but there was no talk about “bauxite.” The local ethnic minorities are all under the impression that the government has set up a project in the village to help with the production of coffee beans, cashews and peppers.
There is a strong sense of discomfort in the village at the sight of local government officials dressed in their dark green uniforms observing closely all those who enter and leave the village. The government of Vietnam increased the number of officials on duty to prevent anyone from “disrupting the developments of the Central Highlands.”
We discovered that those working within 5km of the site will be paid triple those who work outside of that perimeter due to the health hazards of the red toxic sludge resulting from mining bauxite. Although the project is only in its early stages, there are signs that if this project is to continue further the Central Highlands of Vietnam and its people will lose their homes and their only source of cultivation. Nhan Co’s once lush green fields are now beginning to lose their color and life.
Bao Lam district, Lam Dong province
Upon arriving at the town of Bao Lam, we discovered that the government of Vietnam has set up a Bauxite Mining Project Administrative Office in Lam Dong Province. People in town, including over 600 workers and experts from China and a few from the neighboring villages, discuss openly about the mining project. There is very little monitoring from the local government for any activities that they deem damaging to the mining plans.
The locals are aware that the Chinese government has ceased all operations to mine bauxite in China due to the environmental and health hazards that it may cause people in China. The Chinese government takes no concern to the effects that this may have on the Vietnamese people and have cooperated with the local Vietnamese government to mine bauxite in Lam Dong. While families are compensated in exchange for the farming land to be used in this project, families discover that this is not enough to buy a home in the surrounding villages. Other families that refuse to give their land away to the government are reportedly threatened with being run over and killed by the tractors used to clear the land.
Miles from the project site, rows of houses have been built to shelter Chinese experts and workers for the project. There are also convenience stores and eateries with Chinese-language signs to accommodate the growing number of Chinese workers in the area. While local Vietnamese men are hired to dig extremely deep ditches and carry out the grunt work for the project, Vietnamese women are hired to cook meals for the workers for very minimal pay. Vietnamese men performing the same tasks as the Chinese men are also paid much less.
According to local government officials, there will be over 6,000 Chinese workers in the area once the equipment to process bauxite is in place and mining starts in Lam Dong. Although setting up the bauxite mining site started a year ago, plans for this project have been in place for over four years.
The rich coffee farms and beautiful vast green fields of Lam Dong will all be destroyed, this time not by the chemicals left behind from Agent Orange but by the toxic sludge from the bauxite. And 20 years from now, the Dong Nai River, Saigon River and Tri An Lake will be contaminated and our children will be the ones suffering.
