THỪA THIÊN - HUẾ — The Government is preparing a financial support plan for traders and fishermen who could not sell frozen fish due to the toxic spill from the Formosa steel plant off the coast of four Central provinces.

According to a Governmental announcement on Friday, the decision was made at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình in Hà Tĩnh Province late last month.

Formosa caused the environmental disaster in April. Fishermen in the region continued fishing and stored their catch in warehouse freezers, but almost every sample taken showed chemical contamination.

Under the scheme, traders and fishermen of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế provinces will be reimbursed for the price the frozen fish could have fetched at market and for the cost of warehousing and electricity.

The Government will also help market the frozen packages that tested negative for chemical contamination. The ministries of agriculture and rural development, finance, industry and trade, natural resources and environment will be involved in the scheme.

In September, Quảng Trị authorities dumped 70 tonnes of Formosa-contaminated fish taken from local warehouses.

In Thừa Thiên-Huế, four local businesses stored 493 tonnes of fish. Local authorities have been trying to sort out the contaminated fish and assist the businesses in selling those uncontaminated.

There are 4,000 tonnes of frozen fish in Quảng Bình’s warehouses. Local authorities have also helped collect and destroy contaminated fish there. Businesses are also asking the Government to help them regain faith among consumers.

Trương Thị Mười, deputy director of Đức Hiếu private company, told a local newspaper that the company had 640 tonnes of uncontaminated fish in its warehouse but recommended discarding them because of the lengthy storage period. — VNS