Council finds report on Hydropower Plants peripheral

Council members assessing the environment impact report on Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants have said that the report does not clarify important and necessary details and leaves many issues unanswered.

Council members assessing the environment impact report on Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants have said that the report does not clarify important and necessary details and leaves many issues unanswered.

A view of Cat Tien National Park where construction of Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants is scheduled (Photo: SGGP)
A view of Cat Tien National Park where construction of Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants is scheduled (Photo: SGGP)

The members were speaking at a meeting hosted by the council on November 28 to discuss the environment impact report on the Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants. Based on opinion from experts, the council will draw final conclusions before submitting their assessment report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

According to environment experts, although investor Duc Long Gia Lai Group has prepared the report for the third time, it is still incomplete and very peripheral.

They want the investor to clarify on details as to how the project will affect the upper and lower reaches of Dong Nai River and how it will impact the livelihoods of local residents--considered the two most important basic issues.

Council members also asked the investor to research and make clear the possibility of reservoir educed-earthquakes when the plants are complete.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Lung, chairman of the Forestry Science and Technology Association, said that the Dong Nai River already has 13 hydropower plants. The Government has issued orders for all the plants to synchronize with each other before releasing excess waters from their reservoirs.

The Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants do not come under this order, therefore the investor must inform on how this serious issue will be tackled when flooding does occur, said Dr. Lung.

Another matter that Dr. Lung put forward is why the report does not refer to electrical transmission lines and how these transmission lines will affect the surrounding forest area.

The council is still unclear if the project is under current legal regulations as the hydropower plants are scheduled to be built in the Cat Tien National Park area. The park is a special national relic site, coming under the cultural heritage law and the biodiversity law.

Mai Thanh Dung, head of the Department of Environmental Appraisal and Impact Assessment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, asked the investor and consultants of the project to continue to improve the environment impact report and make clear issues pointed out by the council members.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be the final decisive body to assess and accept findings of the environment impact report on the Dong Nai 6 and 6A Hydropower Plants.

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