VietNamNet Bridge – Whether to allow to build Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower plants on the Dong Nai River has, once again, become a hot topic when one more environment organization has declared its support for the construction.
Six hydropower plant projects round up Cat Tien National Park

The thirst for hydropower plants devastating living environment

The Vietnam Association for Conservation of the Nature and Environment (VACNE), has released a statement on its support to the construction of Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower plants on Dong Nai River.

The statement which was released after a workshop held on September 30, has stirred up the public, because people could not imagine that environmentalists would support the construction of the hydropower plants, which are believed to damage the environment in general and the Cat Tien National Park in particular.

Nguyen Dinh Hoe from VACNE has affirmed that all the participants at the workshops have expressed their support to the project. Later, in the interview given to Nguoi lao dong newspaper, Hoe once again affirmed that the impacts of Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A on the ecosystem of the Cat Tien National Park will be not big.

The two hydropower plants will not be located in the middle of the national park; therefore, they will not affect the sanctuary. Besides, the two dams to be built for the two hydropower projects are believed to inundate the 137 hectares of the outside area, while they will not hit the Nam Cat Tien specific biodiversity area.

“The hydropower plants will not touch the Nam Cat Tien area, while they will only affect Cat Loc area,” he stressed.

“People misunderstand that the hydropower plants will be located in the middle of the national park. They should be let to know that the national park includes two separated parts, Cat Loc in the north and Nam Cat Tien in the south. In the past, only Nam Cat Tien belonged to the national park. However, later, Cat Loc has been added into the park because experts think one-horned rhino lives there, which still have not been found” he explains.

Hoe has also emphasized that the two hydropower plants will generate 1 billion kwh of electricity a year which will satisfy the demand of people and businesses in the three provinces of Dak Nong, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc, and help develop local economies. Meanwhile, the projects will only affect a part of the local residents.

The statement by VACNE has immediately raised the wave of anger from the public and environmentalists.

Dr Vu Ngoc Long, deputy director of the Institute of Tropical Biology, who is also the southern representative of the Vietnam Rivers Network (VRN), has said that the action of VACNE is considered a move of supporting the environment devastation.

In the talk with the local press agencies, Long stressed that any actions which lead to the changes of the environmental situation of the region, especially the construction of hydropower plant dams, would have serious impacts on the environment.

Talking about the economic benefits of the hydropower plants, Long said that the plants will bring benefits to projects’ investors because they can exploit the natural resources at low costs and sell electricity at the market prices to industrial zones and consumers in the lowland. Meanwhile, local residents, who live in the affected area, do not have much demand for electricity.

“Most local residents, especially ethnic minorities, are very poor and they need a food security policy rather than an energy security policy,” Long said.

Thousands of readers have sent emails to editorial boards, expressing their worries about the possible impacts of the hydropower plants on the local ecosystem.

“Just when the hydropower plants arise, no animal would live there any more, and no one would be able to protect precious timber,” wrote Tan Truong, a student.

Meanwhile, a reader with the nickname “Song Ve Dau” wrote that in other countries, the deforestation for hydropower plants is protested, because this creates bad impacts on the environment and the ecosystem.

“Vietnam is rich in wind and solar energy potentials. Why don’t scientists think of developing these sources of energy instead of attempting to damage forests?” he questioned.

C. V