VietNamNet Bridge – Dak Mek 3 Hydropower Plant dam in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum that was partially destroyed after being hit by a truck had not been built in accordance with quality standards and the approved design, a conference heard yesterday, Nov 29.

Kon Tum: Dak Mek hydropower dam broken by a dump truck

This was the finding of an inspection team looking into the cause of the broken dam in Muong Hoong Commune in Dak Glei District last week.

Last Thursday, a section of around 60m of the dam collapsed after being hit by a truck. More than 700 cubic metres of stone and concrete fell into Dak Mek stream. The 1.5m thick dam is cracked and the thin iron framework is exposed.

One worker was killed in the incident, and it was not reported to the Dak Glei District People's Committee and the Construction Ministry until four days later.

At the meeting, the inspection team said that the Hong Phat Dak Mek Hydropower Joint Stock Company – the main investor – used earth, sand and stone to build the dam's core instead of cement according to the approved design.

The investor also violated a Government regulation on construction work by failing to report the incident to authorised agencies within 24 hours, they said.

The provincial People's Committee has instructed the investor to suspend construction and submit documents including the survey, design and the building progress of the dam to the provincial Department of Construction before this Saturday.

The investor has also been asked to find specific measures to overcome the consequences and clear the Dak Mek stream.

The committee also asked the provincial Department of Construction to select a qualified consultant to discover the cause of the incident and find out who was responsible.

The committee asked the Dak Glei District People's Committee to monitor repair work and asked the provincial Police Department to investigate the cause of the death.

The investor was absent from the meeting without excuse. Local press have raised questions over whether the Dak Glei District People's Committee was trying to cover up the incident.

Chief of the secretariat of the committee Do Sum told Tin tuc (News) newspaper that the committee only found out about the incident through the press, while the director of the Hong Phat Dak Mek Hydropower Joint Stock Company said that the company had reported it to district police and the people's procuracy right after the incident occurred.

The company even asked for support from the district's health force, he said.

All efforts by reporters to approach leaders of the district people's committee have failed.

Chief of the secretariat of the provincial People's Committee Dang Thanh Long said the committee would look at the facts to establish if the district people's committee had fulfilled its duties.

The Dak Mek 3 Hydropower Plant project, with investment capital of more than VND200 billion (US$10 million), started in March 2009. The plant has a total capacity of 7.5 MW. Around 80 per cent of the workload has been completed and it was scheduled to go into operation in 2013 before the incident occurred.

VietNamNet/VNS