New Horizon Radio (Chan Troi Moi) by Hoang Ha
Can Tho, July 8, 2007
The protests to demand justice of the aggrieved citizens is spreading. About 100 farmers of the Song Hau plantation in Can Tho are staging a protest in front of the Can Tho People Committee’s headquarter since July 6th. The protest is still on-going. The following is an interview with these protesters.
Hoang Ha: We heard that you have tried to come to Saigon to join the protest but could not make it. Would you please share with us the reason why you could not come to Saigon?
Mr. Tu: I am currently protesting in Can Tho. We are fighting for our rights in the City of Can Tho. However, we are preparing to go to Saigon.
Hoang Ha: Can you elaborate on your protest in Can Tho?
Mr. Tu: We are fighting for the rights of 2800 families of the Song Hau plantation with over 15,000 people.
Hoang Ha: How many people are protesting in Can Tho and where is the protest?
Mr. Tu: We are protesting in front of the Can Tho’s People Committee office with about 100 people.
Hoang Ha: Has the People Committee resolved the grievances of the protesters?
Mr. Tu: Not yet, we are fighting for it now, but no one from the People Committee would come out to receive us. We are at the front gate right now, but no one would come out.
Hoang Ha: Do you have any banners that show the local government and local residents your exact demands?
Mr. Tu: We don’t have any banners, but we have the documents from the central government from Ha Noi, but the local government does not come out to receive us.
Hoang Ha: Today is Sunday in Vietnam, the government offices are closed. Do the protesters plan to wait on location until Monday?
Mr. Tu: Yes, we will wait until Monday.
Hoang Ha: What are the demands of the protesters?
Mr. Tu: First, many people have certificates of their land, but the plantation and the People Committee do not resolve their grievances. Secondly, we are representing 2800 families in the plantation to demand an answer of the tax rate of the plantation that is not in compliance with the government’s policy. We want our taxes back.
The bottom line is that we have two main goals: first, return or compensate for the land that was confiscated from the rightful owners. Secondly, we represent the people working in the plantation to demand the tax that was improperly collected for the past 32 years. We demand a refund. The plantation imposes taxes on us that is not compliant with the government’s policy.
I am also representing the protesters here to ask the officials and government agencies to help us to get back our properties and civil rights.
Hoang Ha: Do you know about the protest in Saigon?
Mr. Tu: Yes, I do. We were in communication with them, but we are now fighting at the local People Committee. The officials have promised that they would send inspectors from the Central Government to come down to resolve our grievances, but we keep on waiting, but have yet to see anyone come out. If we do not see the inspectors and the local People Committee will not receive us, we will move the protest to Saigon, the National Assembly Office II.
Hoang Ha: If the local People Committee would not resolve your grievances, do you think that more people would join in on the protests?
Mr. Tu: Yes, there are many. There are many more from our Song Hau plantation, we are here representing a numbers of them, if the government does not resolve our grievances, we will continue to protest.
Hoang Ha: In case Can Tho’s government would not resolve your grievances, would the remaining farmers in the Song Hau plantation come to Can Tho to protest? Do you think that would happen?
Mr. Tu: Yes, definitely because we are fighting to restore our rights and benefits. We have been suffering for too long-over 30 years now! We have lost too much.
Hoang Ha: May I speak with the protesters on location?
Hoang Ha: Hello, can you share with us the reason you are protesting in Can Tho? We are you from and what is your name?
Protester: we are from village 8 to demand back the money that the plantation has collected from us without a contract. We were being disadvantaged for all these time. Many farmers are in difficult situations, and we here to demand back the benefits that we have lost through all these years.
Hoang Ha: Do you think that the farmers from Song Hau plantation would come to Can Tho or Saigon to join in on the protest there?
Protester: We are waiting and hoping that the local People Committee would resolve our grievances. If the local government does not satisfy our grievances, we will go to the higher level of government.
Hoang Ha: Today is Sunday, when did the protesters start the protest?
Protester: Since Friday last week.
Hoang Ha: So the protest has been going on for 3 days now, and in the past 3 days, the local government did not receive nor resolve your grievances. What then is the likelihood of the local government resolving you grievances?
Protesters: We are hoping. We don’t know the final outcome yet.
Hoang Ha: In case your grievances are not resolved and you need to go to a higher level of government, how would the farmers respond to that?
Mr. Tu: This is Mr. Tu again. We did not just start Friday, but we came back from Ha Noi with the documents from the Central government to resolve our grievances, but if on Monday the local government hasn’t resolved our grievances yet, we would go to the National Assembly II to demand our benefits back.
Hoang Ha: The police has blocked all the streets, how would you get to Saigon?
Mr. Tu: It is easy. We came to Ha Noi and would find anyway possible to go to Ho Chi Minh City. It is easy to get to Ho Chi Minh City from here. Be certain that if our grievances are not resolved on Monday, we will head for Ho Chi Minh City. We have been suffering all these years.
