VietNamNet Bridge – In the morning of September 11, the Court of Appeal of Nam Tra My district in the central province of Quang Nam--put on trial the last case of a dozen of lawsuits of Nuoc Xa villagers against the Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN).

The trial on September 11.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dao’s and Mr. Trinh Tan Duc’s families are the last two households in Nuoc Xa village that sued the EVN.

Both households said that EVN, the investor of Song Tranh 2 hydropower project stored water in Song Tranh 2 reservoir, resulted in a flood that damaged their entire property and threatened their lives.

Meanwhile, these households have not received any compensation and have not been moved out of the flooded area of the reservoir.

At the court, Duc and Dao said that those who have the responsibility for the Song Tranh hydroelectric project only cared about their interests and disregarded to the lives and property of local people.

Storing water in the reservoir when local people were not moved out of the area is extremely dangerous, they said.

According to Duc and Dao, the total loss that they suffered from storing water in the reservoir was more than VND2 billion ($100,000). Duc said that property damage was too great, but the mental damage as well as threats to the lives of his wife and children could not be calculated.

Vu Duc Toan, EVN representative at the court said that he himself and other officials of the EVN group obeyed the State’s regulations and they could not exceed the regulations.

After deliberation, the judging panel said that EVN is not responsible for paying compensation for the two households, because the group complied with the law.

After the court, the two households and five other households which had sued the EVNE said they would continue to appeal to the court of first instance and vowed to follow the case.

This is the final court of the 15 administrative lawsuits and damage claims of the villagers of six hamlets in Tra Don commune of Nam Tra My district against the local government and the EVN.

Vu Trung