QUẢNG BÌNH — Residents in the central province of Quảng Bình are worried the construction of a woodchip plant, located in the upper area of two reservoirs, will pollute their supply of water.

Meanwhile, local authorities affirmed that they have postponed the construction due to failure in the environmental impact assessment of the project.

Residents in Hạ Trạch Commune in the province’s Bố Trạch District opposed the woodchip plant invested in by Thuận Đức, a local company, saying its waste discharged could pollute water in the reservoirs of Vực Sanh and Cửa Nghè.

The two reservoirs supply water for daily use and production of some 5,000 households in the commune and neighbouring Mỹ Trạch Commune.

“We are worried the plant will soon revamp the reservoir area and pollute its water, affecting our water supply,” said Nguyễn Xuân Trường, a resident of Hạ Trạch Commune.

Trường told a local newspaper that local authorities had requested postponing the construction but locals found out it has now resumed.

Lưu Văn Tác, chairman of Hạ Trạch Commune, affirmed the postponement request, saying that public consultation on the construction showed that 100 per cent of residents are opposed to the work.

Tác said the provincial People’s Committee had thus stopped the construction.

The Division of Natural Resources and Environment in Bố Trạch District said they would allocate staff for checks on the ongoing construction, as reported by local residents.

Đỗ Mạnh Tài, the division’s head, said the investor, Thuận Đức Company, had petitioned the changing of the function of the project, but no approval had been made yet.

“No approval means no construction, and the violation must be stopped,” Tài said.

Residents who live nearby, however, reported that the company’s deputy director told them at a public meeting that local authorities had given the company the green light for the construction. — VNS