Did the investor of Khe Bo Hydropower Project 'swallow' its promise to the people?

(Baonghean) - According to readers of Tuong Duong district, Khe Bo Hydropower Project was completed and put into operation in May 2013, but the implementation of compensation, support and resettlement policies still has many backlogs. Not only that, at the end of 2016, the investor requested the Provincial People's Committee to consider abolishing the support costs for overcoming poverty.

» Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc incited parishioners.

Investor's argument

It is known that, to implement the Khe Bo Hydropower Construction Project, on August 18, 2009, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 4027/QD-UBND-CNXD approving regulations on compensation, support and resettlement.

In Decision 4027, detailed regulations are provided for the contents that investors need to implement to ensure the lives of people after moving to new places. And one of the policies proposed by the Provincial People's Committee is the regulation on financial support to overcome poverty (stated in Point D, Article 6, on support for stabilizing life and stabilizing production).

Accordingly, “In case a household or individual has all of its residential land recovered or has more than 30% of its allocated (or contracted) agricultural land recovered and currently has a living standard that is considered poor according to the criteria announced by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs during the period of confirmation by the District-level Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, in addition to the general policy on incentives for households whose land is recovered and policies for poor households, it will also be supported to overcome poverty based on the current population. The one-time support level, specifically for poor households in rural areas, is 5,760,000 VND/person; for poor households in urban areas, it is 3,600,000 VND/person”.

Dinh Thang resettlement village (Tam Dinh commune). Photo: Nhat Lan

The policies of the Provincial People's Committee in Decision 4027 have facilitated the process of mobilizing nearly 600 households (over 2,530 people) to agree to leave their hometowns and give up their land to implement the project; so that Khe Bo Hydropower Plant can be completed and put into operation from May 2013. However, up to now, the work related to compensation, support, relocation and resettlement still has many backlogs, causing frustration for officials and people of Tuong Duong district.

These are issues related to domestic water, infrastructure of intra-village roads, school auxiliary works...; compensation, support for households leveling their own houses, moving houses, poor households, land differences, damage to garden land along streams... And most notably, the support for overcoming poverty has not been implemented yet, even the investor has refused to pay. This is clearly shown in Official Dispatch No. 1156/VNPD-KT+KTKH+TCKT dated November 25, 2016 of Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company sent to the Provincial People's Committee and the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district, in which it requested the Provincial People's Committee and the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district to consider abolishing the cost of overcoming poverty.

The investor's argument stated in Official Dispatch No. 1156 is that during the process of implementing compensation and support for resettlement, poor households have received resettlement infrastructure, compensation for land, trees, crops, and structures; policies to support relocation, stabilize life and production, healthcare, and electricity. In addition, the investor believes that at key national hydropower projects (Tuyen Quang, Son La, Hua Na hydropower plants...), there is no support for overcoming poverty. If this policy is implemented, it will not ensure fairness in compensation, support for migration and resettlement between Khe Bo Hydropower Project and other key hydropower projects.

Provincial People's Committee does not approve!

Before the content of Official Dispatch No. 1156 dated December 8, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 9460/UBND-CN on the payment of expenses for overcoming poor households in compensation, support and resettlement of the Khe Bo Hydropower Project in response to Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company, emphasizing: "The Khe Bo Hydropower Project officially started construction on September 12, 2007, generating electricity from Unit 1 and connecting to the national grid on May 13, 2013. During nearly 5 years of construction, with the efforts of the investor, the attention and support of Nghe An provincial authorities at all levels, the coordination and facilitation of the authorities and people of Tuong Duong district, especially the consensus of 585 households with 2,539 people.

For the country's electricity tomorrow, people have accepted to leave their homeland, making way for the project to be implemented on schedule. To compensate and share the disadvantages of people affected by the project, the Provincial People's Committee approved the regulations on compensation, support and resettlement of Khe Bo hydropower project in Decision No. 4027/QD-UBND.CNXD dated August 18, 2009.

According to the report of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district, although the project has been generating electricity since May 2013, up to now, some infrastructure items of the resettlement areas have not been completed, some support policies have not been paid, including the policy to support households to overcome poverty, which has not been implemented. This issue has caused dissatisfaction among the people, complaints, and lawsuits for a long time... Now, the Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company has proposed to abolish the cost of supporting households to overcome poverty, causing even more frustration and loss of trust among the people in the project area.

Official dispatch No. 9460 of the Provincial People's Committee requests Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company to implement support policies to overcome poverty. Photo: Nhat Lan

To fulfill the promise to the people resettled at Khe Bo Hydropower Plant, the People's Committee of Nghe An province requested the Vietnam Electricity Development Joint Stock Company to urgently pay the support policy to overcome poverty according to the approved compensation and resettlement support plan.

Regarding this content, according to Mr. Kha Van Ot - Vice Chairman of Tuong Duong District People's Committee, at the meeting on August 31, 2016 between Tuong Duong District and the representative of Khe Bo Hydropower Project Management Board, it was agreed that the Investor will work with the Provincial People's Committee on not paying this support amount before November 30, 2016. After November 30, 2016, if the Provincial People's Committee does not have a document agreeing not to pay this support amount, the Investor must negotiate and appraise the support fund for poor households to promptly pay to the people before March 31, 2017.

According to Mr. Kha Van Ot, up to now, the documents on agreement, appraisal and approval of funding to support poor households have been transferred by the District Compensation and Site Clearance Council to the Khe Bo Hydropower Project Management Board. There are a total of 1,885 poor households listed by the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the commune authorities to receive support to overcome poverty with a total budget of more than 10 billion 850 million VND. Mr. Kha Van Ot said: "The documents have been received by the investor, but there is no specific answer on how to appraise and implement them. In the coming time, Tuong Duong district will continue to work with the investor to promote the resolution of outstanding problems, including the implementation of policies to support households to overcome poverty...".

Decision No. 4027/QD-UBND.CNXD dated August 18, 2009 of the Provincial People's Committee, in Article 2 clearly states: "The provisions in Article 1 (regulations on compensation, support and resettlement policies - PV) above only apply to the Khe Bo Hydropower Project construction project, not to other projects". Thus, it can be understood that this is a special document for the Khe Bo Hydropower Project. If the investor has concerns and comments on amendments, it must be when the new Decision is approved, the regulations on compensation, support and resettlement policies have not been conveyed to the people. At present, it has been nearly 8 years since Decision 4027 took effect; the project has been completed and operated for nearly 4 years, so the investor cannot cite excuses but needs to seriously implement./.

Nhat Lan