The Ministry of Finance has transferred VNĐ3 trillion (US$134 million) to four coastal central provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế) where fish died en mass due to environmental pollution in April. — Photo zing.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance has transferred VNĐ3 trillion (US$134 million) to four coastal central provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế) where fish died en mass due to environmental pollution in April.

The money, part of the US$500-million compensation paid by Taiwanese Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Hà Tĩnh Steel Corporation – the company responsible for the mass fish deaths, will be used to compensate thousands of fishermen whose lives were affected by the incident.

The news was released by Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyễn Hữu Chí at a Tuesday press conference in Hà Nội.

Chí said the money allocated to Quảng Bình was VNĐ1.1 trillion ($49.3 million), Hà Tĩnh VNĐ1 trillion ($44.8 million), Quảng Trị VNĐ500 billion ($22.4 million) and Thừa Thiên Huế VNĐ400 billion ($17.9 million).

To ensure transparency in the compensation process, the ministry asked the four localities to open one banking account each to receive the money from the ministry, said Đào Xuân Tế, deputy head of the ministry’s State Budget Department.

The ministry also issued detailed instructions on how to compensate people in each locality, he said.

According to the ministry, compensation for the affected people would be paid in cash or transferred by bank payments. Each provincial administration was ordered to make a list of people receiving compensation with their signatures to report to the ministry.

The ministry directed all People’s Committee at commune level to publish the list of recipients and how much they would get at least three days before the compensation process is underway.

In late September, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc approved a decision to list seven groups of victims working in affected sectors in the four provinces. The sectors include seafood harvesting, aquatic breeding, salt production, coastal seafood business activities, fishing logistics, coastal tourism services and seafood stockpiling and purchase.

Compensation ranges from VNĐ3.69 million ($165) and VNĐ37.48 million ($1,680) per person each month depending on damage.

In another development, a team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development lead by Nguyễn Ngọc Oai – deputy head of the Directorate of Fisheries went to Hà Tĩnh on Tuesday to check on how the locality has helped locals in resuming production and stabilising their lives. — VNS