Consequences when Yen Thang Hydropower Project "dies"

(Baonghean) - The hydropower project on Huoi Nguyen stream in Yen Thang commune, Tuong Duong district started on October 25, 2009. The investor then did not start construction and had its license revoked by the People's Committee of Nghe An province in 2013. The project no longer exists, but there are still consequences affecting people's lives.

Now, the slope along Huoi Nguyen stream, where the groundbreaking ceremony for the hydroelectric plant took place 6 years ago, is covered with wild plants, with no trace of the project worth hundreds of billions of dong. Although this hydroelectric project has been terminated, over the years, the consequences it left on the poor land of Yen Hoa and Yen Thang have persisted.

The production land of Mrs. Lo Thi Xinh (Xop Khau village - Yen Thang commune) is now bare cobblestones.

According to the project design, the Yen Thang reservoir area has a lake surface area of ​​0.57 km2, with a total capacity of 3.76 million m3. This means that if the project is completed, storing water and generating electricity, more than 300 households in 3 villages of Xieng Lip, Coc, and Hao in Yen Hoa commune and 34 households in Xop Khau village, Yen Thang commune will be affected. Of which, Yen Hoa commune has about 90 households that have to be relocated because it is located in the hydroelectric reservoir area. Like many other hydroelectric projects, the reservoir area has been licensed to exploit alluvial gold because after the project is completed, everything will be submerged in water. However, the hydroelectric project has been terminated and the alluvial gold mining has also been completed, and the people are suffering the consequences of gold mining.

Huoi Nguyen Stream where the hydroelectric plant is planned to be located

In the blazing sun, Mrs. Lo Thi Xinh, Xop Khau village, sat downstairs, looking far away towards Huoi Nguyen stream. She said that before the hydroelectric project, there were many alluvial flats on both sides of the stream, which people used to grow corn and other crops. Although the land area was not too large, almost every house had a few plots for production. When the Yen Thang Hydroelectric Project was implemented, according to the design, the Huoi Nguyen stream area would become a hydroelectric reservoir and gold mining companies came in to collect alluvial gold. In just a short time, the machines of the gold mining companies plowed the stream bed, and the alluvial flats on both sides of the stream also disappeared. When the project was terminated, the stream bed was dug up, leaving only cobblestones and muddy water. While talking, Mrs. Xinh led us to point to the pebble beach on the edge of Huoi Nguyen stream, sadly saying that it should have been corn fields, vegetable fields... "Now the hydroelectric power plant is not being built but the land cannot be used for production anymore, the people here can only feel regretful, not knowing who to complain to," Mrs. Xinh sighed.

Going up, we came across a group of about 8 people casting nets and diving in the muddy water to look for fish. Talking about the hydroelectric plant that had been stopped, everyone laughed and shook their heads in disappointment. Mr. Luong Van Phuong, the oldest person in the group casting nets, said that in the past, Huoi Nguyen stream had a lot of fish. Then, gold mining machines came to exploit it, turning up all the rocks and soil, making the water murky and leaving no place for fish to live. Now the hydroelectric plant is no longer being built, but the fish are nowhere to be seen, only the pebbles at the bottom of the stream remain.

The riverbed is full of pebbles after extensive gold mining.

When talking about the consequences behind the Yen Thang Hydropower Project being terminated, Mr. Lo Thai Sinh, Chairman of Yen Hoa Commune People's Committee immediately affirmed: The bed of Huoi Nguyen stream was dug up to exploit gold, it cannot be restored to its original state, only cobblestones remain. Also because the bed of the stream was dug up, the water changed its course, causing erosion of a lot of productive land of people on both sides. After some calculation, Mr. Sinh said that Yen Hoa commune had about 15 - 16 hectares of rice fields and 20 hectares of cropland around Huoi Nguyen stream, but now it has lost about 1/3 of that area. Of which, Coc village alone lost about 7 - 8 hectares of productive land.

Besides the above consequences, another problem that this project brings is causing people to become dependent. At that time, for the project to proceed smoothly, the local authorities of Yen Hoa and Yen Thang communes had to assign staff to propagate, mobilize, count assets, land, crops, and prepare compensation records for site clearance... "On the groundbreaking day, Mr. Yen and I, Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Thang commune, were also solemnly invited by the investor to receive 30 million VND in support for the poor. But we only received a signboard but no money was seen. The project was no longer carried out, but before that, the People's Committee of Yen Hoa commune had to redesign the commune's cultural house, raise the ground level, spending more than 40 million VND because they were afraid that after the hydroelectric plant was completed, it would be flooded. It cost a lot of effort and money but did not solve any problem," Mr. Sinh shared, adding that for many years, the mindset of the people in the reservoir area was to sit and wait for compensation, some waited to move. It is the mentality of waiting anxiously, relying on others and hoping to receive a lot of money that has slowed down the socio-economic development of the locality. Such losses cannot be weighed or measured…

Faced with the problems caused by the Yen Thang Hydropower Project, local authorities at all levels in Tuong Duong district have also made efforts to mobilize people to try to renovate the rice fields, patiently picking up each pebble to make a place for production. However, to restore the entire area of ​​​​streams that had been dug up everywhere is very difficult. It used to be a hydropower project that local authorities and people were excitedly waiting for with the hope that, after being put into operation, it would contribute to creating more conditions for economic and social development in the area. However, the project was terminated and left great lessons for the authorities in attracting investment, assessing the financial capacity of investors as well as checking and supervising the implementation of the project's progress. The more concerning issue is the consequences after the project "died", people's lives became difficult, the ecological environment was affected...

Yen Thang Hydropower Project is invested by Yen Thang Hydropower Joint Stock Company on Huoi Nguyen stream, a first-class tributary of Lam River. The plant has a designed capacity of 11MW with 2 units, average annual electricity output of 44.06 million KWh, total investment of nearly 240 billion VND. Construction time is 2 years, expected to be completed and put into operation in 2011.

After the groundbreaking ceremony, the investor and contractor did not mobilize machinery to construct like other projects. When the project was behind schedule, the authorities urged the investor but the investor did not construct as planned, Tuong Duong district proposed to stop the project. In October 2013, the Department of Planning and Investment of Nghe An province announced the revocation of the investment certificate, the project was officially terminated.