Thua Thien-Hue fishermen spend compensation on restoring fishing boats (Photo: VNA)Thua Thien – Hue (VNA) – The central province of Thua Thien –Hue is exerting every effort to complete compensation for locals affected by the marineenvironment incident last year, according to an official of the provincialPeople’s Committee.
To date, some 894.3 billion VND (39.3 millionUSD) out of a total of 950.5 billion VND (41.8 million USD) has been distributedto 39,870 victims.
Phu Vang district has the highest number ofpeople receiving compensation with 7,396; followed by Phu Loc with 6,765people.
Local authorities have also directed their people touse the compensation in right purposes to resume production, aquaculture andfishing activities, towards sustainable livelihoods.
Accordingly, the province has seen a year-on-year surgeof 15 percent in the total aquatic farming and fishing output to 17,736 tonnesin the last five months.
Of the total, aquaculture contributed over2,700 tonnes, up 4.4 percent, while seafood catch hit 14,942 tonnes, increasingnearly 18 percent against the same period last year, showing the recovery ofthe locality’s aquaculture and fishing after the marine environment incident.
[Thua Thien-Hue’s fishing output surges after maritime environment incident]
The mass fish deaths were first reported onApril 6, 2016 when a large number of fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh province. Itwas also spotted in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces.
About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in thefour provinces and Thua Thien-Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farm-raised fishhad died. The pollution also affected more than 260,000 people who earn theirliving from the sea.
In late June 2016, Taiwanese-invested HungNghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company admitted responsibility for theincident and pledged 11.5 trillion VND (500 million USD) in compensation.-VNA
