In early April, waste water from the Vietnam unit of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group killed off tons of fish along some 200 kilometers of Vietnam’s central coastline.
About 41,000 fishermen and over 176,000 people dependent on the industry have been affected by the disaster, the government said in a report in July.
The Taiwanese fish killer, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, made a public apology after the incident and has recently transferred a $500 million compensation package to the Vietnamese government.
At a press conference held at the end of August, authorities claimed that it’s now safe to swim in the affected waters but remained non-committal about whether it is safe to catch and eat fish.
The disaster took place about four months ago but it still exerts an enormous impact on local communities who depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
1997 VnExpress.net