A cement plant has been forced to temporarily shut down as dozens of households in the central province of Quang Ngai continue to demand to be relocated due to environmental pollution.

Dai Viet-Dung Quat cement plant

In 2012, the USD136m Dai Viet-Dung Quat cement plant went into operation. The plant employs 100 workers and has an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes.

But people living near the plant began making complaints about the dust and noise and demanded compensation for relocation in 2013.

Dung Quat Economic Zone's management board then moved 107 households. VND36bn has been spent on the first relocation phase.

"Dust is everywhere, covering our house and polluting our well. We also can't live with the noise. I don't understand, my house is really near the plant yet we’ve never been moved," said local Nguyen Minh Hung.

According to the plan, 236 households in the radius of 50m to 100m around the plant will be moved in the second phase and this land will be used to build the Dung Quat coal power plant.

The ground clearance work should have been done this year but coal-powered plant project was delayed until 2020. As the result, the ground clearance work has also been delayed.

Director of Central Region Cement JSC Trinh Van Dien, investor in the Dai Viet-Dung Quat cement plant, said, "We invited an environmental monitoring team to check the dust concentration and the results are safe. The local Department of Natural Resources and Environment hasn't reached a conclusion on the noise level yet. Meanwhile the locals are misunderstanding the situation. They think they are unable to relocate because of us so they are causing problems for us. We’ve had to temporarily close the plant, meaning we’re losing VND300m and the 100 workers are kicking their heels at home. I don't know what to do."

Since May 26, the locals have gathered in front of the plant to call for a shutdown but the local authorities and Dung Quat Economic Zone's management board have continue to ignore the issue.

On May 30, the chairman of Quang Ngai Province Tran Ngoc Cang asked the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to work with the Centre for Environmental Monitoring.

The provincial authorities also allocated VND9bn to Dung Quat Economic Zone to upgrade infrastructure and welfare constructions.

Vo Dinh Tra, chairman of Binh Son District said they asked the authorities of Binh Dong Commune to deal with the situation and persuade people to go home.

Meanwhile chairman of Binh Dong Commune Nguyen Thanh Vu said that the situation was still fine.

However, many people still gathered in front of the cement plant on June 22.

According to the locals, they want to be compensated for the relocation if the plant stays and if they stay then the plant can't exist. "We don’t want to stay. We have to move," local Nguyen Ne said.

Dtinews