HÀNỘI — A working group led by Phan Xuân Dũng, chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Committee on Science, Technology and Environment has arrived in central Hà Tĩnh Province to supervise the implementation of the law on environmental protection on the Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Hà Tĩnh Steel Company.

The working group yesterday visited fishermen who were affected by recent environmental accidents as well as examining places where waste from Formosa was reportedly buried in Kỳ Trinh Ward. The group also met with leaders from the People’s Committee of Kỳ Anh Township and Hà Tĩnh Province.

It is scheduled to inspect Formosa today.

The group will also work with Vũng Áng Thermal Power Plant, a waste treatment plan under the Phú Hà Environmental Limited Company. The group is expected to inspect waste burial sites used by Formosa across the province.

At the first session of the NA, the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment was authorised to supervise the environment in the central region and report to the NA Standing Committee.

Late in June, the Vietnamese government found Taiwanese-owned Formosa responsible for mass fish deaths in four central provinces in April after it released toxic wastewater into the sea.

The leaders of the company officially apologised to the Vietnamese government and people and promised to pay $500 million as compensation, and to pay for the clean-up and restoration of the sea.

Earlier in mid-July, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà said that the body would form a council to supervise the anti-pollution commitments made by Formosa.

The minister added that a state-of-the-art marine environment monitoring system would be built to make regular assessments of the marine environment, Vietnam News Agency reported.— VNS