VIETNAM has been making practical contributions to turning the Mekong sub-region into a dynamic and prosperous economic area via two crucial cooperation frameworks. That is according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who spoke before meetings of those cooperations, the 8th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit (CLMV-8) and the 7th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Coopera-tion Strategy Summit (ACMECS-7) which will be held in Hanoi on October 25 and 26.
Tag: society-community
Environmental destruction is a crime: Vietnamese industry minister
Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh says pollution is a crime against the environment and calls on all major corporations to commit themselves towards environmental protection during their operations.
Power plant, coal mine, and mineral mine developers across Vietnam gathered on Thursday afternoon for a meeting to address environmental issues regarding their operations.
Thousands flee fighting near site of dam backed by Thailand
AS MANY as 10,000 people in Kayin State in Myanmar have been displaced due to fighting over the Hat Gyi Dam construction site, as plans move forward to begin building on the Salween River.
Activists have reported a human rights crisis in the area as more than 1,000 refugees have been trapped in two small villages near the border with Thailand and lack proper housing, basic facilities and food.
WB helps build environment data centre in Mekong Delta
Experts from ministries and the World Bank discussed the contents of a project on building a databse serving climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta region at a workshop in Hanoi on October 5.
Jarai Say No to Ratanakiri Gold Mine
An insurrection led by ethnic Jarai villagers against the Kingdom’s first commercial underground gold mine, to be operated by Indian-owned Mesco Gold (Cambodia), looms over the green, serene remote hamlet of Plung, a few kilometers from the Vietnamese border, in Ratanakiri’s O’Yadaw district.
Lending loopholes expose World Bank to indirectly financing ‘coal boom’ in Asia
The lending arm of the World Bank is providing loans to institutions that finance the development of coal-based power projects, according to a new report. The projects not only pose an environmental risk to the planet, locally they destroy homes and displace communities. The loans subvert strong warnings from the head of the World Bank that expanding coal in Asia is a dangerous proposition.
Govt, Stakeholders Discuss Mining Sector Licensing System
Representatives from government, mining business operators, developments partners and non-government organisations met in Vientiane to consult on ways to improve and change mining sector licensing and investment systems in Laos.
Coal-fired power plants threaten Vietnam deltas
Vietnam’s plan to take its total number of coal-fired power plants to 31 by 2020 has raised environmental concerns.
To minimize costs and the loss of electrical power during transmission, thermal power plants in Vietnam are usually built near large economic centers of the country’s Red River Delta and Mekong Delta regions, where electricity usage is at its highest.
Environmental hazards caused by these types of power plants came to the fore in April 2015, when coal ashes from Vinh Tan 2 Thermal Power Station in Binh Thuan Province spread to nearby residential areas due to low levels of air humidity.
Protests dog Thilawa SEZ as second phase nears start
Over 70 companies across 14 countries have invested more than US$700 million in the Thilawa special economic zone, but local residents affected by the project are still campaigning to have the next phase halted until issues around resettlement, compensation and environmental impact are resolved.
Ticking water time bombs in hydropower plants?
A tunnel break in the Song Bung 2 hydroelectric power plant in the central province of Quang Nam released nearly 30 million cubic metres of water that rushed to thousands of villagers living downstream, killing two, and caused at least VND5 billion of losses. The latest incident raised alarms about whether the hydropower plants in Viet Nam meet safety requirements, especially when the Song Bung 2 had already passed the highest examination bars.
The Song Bung 2 hydropower incident washed away two people, one of who is still missing, and local residents cannot shake off the horrifying thought that they, too, might have been among the dead.