VietNamNet Bridge – The government has requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) to check the plan on developing hydropower plants and exclude the Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A from the plan.

The news about the fate of the Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower plant projects has been always on the first pages of the daily newspapers these days.

Three years ago, thiennhien.net reported that the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed with the proposal by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) to stop the two projects.

The Prime Minister has also requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to reconsider the hydropower plant systems on the Dong Nai River.

MONRE, after considering the projects, came to a conclusion that the hydropower plants, if built as planned, would do more harm than good.

Shortly after the ministry made the conclusion, the Vietnam River Network VRN released the statements on advocating the ministry’s proposal.

According to the report submitted by MONRE, if the two projects are implemented, Vietnam would lose 372 hectares of forest land for ever, including the 128 hectares of land in Cat Loc area, the core area in the Cat Tien National Park.

There would be no changes with the current stream. The water inflow to the Tri An reservoir would remain the same. However, the water reservoirs of the Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A hydropower plants would have big impacts on the water supply in the lower course of the hydropower plant dam.

Analysts have commented on local newspapers that this is for the first time in history the existence of a national park can catch such a special attention from the public.

People got angry when hearing that the two power plant projects would take away a part of the Cat Tien National Park, and that UNESCO refused to grant the title “natural heritage” to the park just because of the threat from the two projects.

The projects have been put into discussion not only at the meetings organized by the MONRE and MOIT, become the hot topic of the environment organization, but have also been discussed at National Assembly’s sessions.

After MONRE suggested eliminating the Dong Nai and Dong Nai 6A from the power plant project development plan, MOIT has softened its voice, saying that if MONRE can prove the negative impacts, the two projects should be canceled.

A senior official of the MOIT’s Energy Directorate General said though Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 6A are listed in the national power plant development program in 2011-2020 approved by the Prime Minister, they still need to be canceled if problems are found.

The Prime Minister’s decision to stop the two hydropower plant projects has been applauded by people. This has raised a high hope that the other national parks, which are under the threat by hydropower plant projects, would also be rescued.

A reader wrote to Nguoi lao dong that hydropower plants are the engines which most seriously devastate forests. People in Quang Nam province said they have suffered heavily from hydropower plants.

The plants have leveled the mountains and curbed the river. The plants store water and cause floods. They have also paved the way for illegal lumberjacks to carry illegally exploited wood.