THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — The central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế’s People’s Committee has refused a proposal by a harbour investor to dump over 700,000 cu.m of mud into the sea.

Vice chairman of the committee Nguyễn Văn Phương on Sunday said that the province had replied to a proposal by the Hào Hưng Huế Ltd Company – the investor of the No3 harbour project at Chân Mây Port – to dump mud into the sea that was dredged for a land project.

The company had complained that they were struggling to find a place to dump about 1.2 million cubic metres of mud, which had slowed the project’s progress.

The company asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial authority if it could dump the mud about three kilometres offshore.

Thừa Thiên-Huế Province refused the proposal, asking the company to dump the mud at on land at locations approved by the environment ministry.

The committee also asked the province’s Economic Zones Management Board to complete land clearance and hand over an area for the investor to dump the mud.

The No3 harbour at Chân Mây Port is 270 metres long and covers an area of 13ha, with investment of nearly VNĐ 850 billion (US$36.27 million). Construction of the harbour is expected to be completed next year.

The investor said that it could arrange a site to dump about 500, 000 cu.m of mud, but didn’t know where to put the other 700,000cu.m.

According to original plan approved by the environment Ministry, the mud was to be used to reinforce the foundations of the harbour. The investor had committed to building embankments and taking technical measures to prevent the mud from flowing into the sea. — VNS