A farmer in Thuong Diem 1 village, Ninh Thuan province's Ninh Phuoc where the huge steel project was set to come up said that when the Ca Na steel project, a joint venture between Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and Malaysia's Lion Group, was officially kicked off the people here were very happy and expected much in the movement. However, to date, darkness has covered all things. Among over 500 households forced to move and leave ground for the project, only a half of them received compensation. The residents here did not know where to leave for and how to live when their whole salt field and inshore fishing area was projected.

Also, investing in business, construction and business facilities in the area also was stopped because farmers feared that production land could be withdrawn any time to carry out the steel project, he added.

According to Le Van Thanh, vice chair of Phuoc Diem communal People's Committee, Ca Na Steel project has a total area of 1,077 hectares in villages of Thuong Diem 1 and Lac Nghiep 1 of Phuoc Diem Commune where 459 households are living, including 550 hectares of processing field of Ca Na salt enterprise. The compensation money for all 459 households is estimated at over 148 billion dong, but till now only 236 households have received total seven billion dong.

Although Ca Na steel plant is listed in the group of Grade A projects with a total high investment capital, Ca Na steel complex has not yet had a joint venture mechanism in charge of administration. There is no move showing that investors need the project. Particularly, investors have not drawn up technical design, thermo power plant, and seaport for the project as presented.

The project will be completed by 2010 with an initial capacity of 4.5 million tonnes a year along with two thermo power plants of total capacity of 1,450 MW and a 15 million-tone seaport, an oxygen plant and a lime firing mill. Yet, to date the project's compensation assignment has not been finished.

Most recently, the Ninh Thuan provincial People's Committee required Lion group--the partner joining venture with Vinashin-to confirm their investment capacity clearly as for Ca Na steel complex project and commit to carry out all assignments of the project in each phase.

Lion Group also was ordered to release an answer about the investment capacity in case Vietnamese government does not offer any credit guaranteeing scheme for Ca Na steel project like the group's proposal.

Similarly, in Phu Yen province, the project on investing in infrastructure for Naphtha Cracking petrochemical industry zone complex of Singapore's SP Chemicals Ltd (SPC) was started from 2006 with a total estimated cost of $11 billion. During the past two years, Phu Yen provincial authorities made big efforts to promote the project progress by withdrawing land, planning the resettlement area in Hoa Tam Commune. But lately general director of SPC asked the provincial governance to stop the implementation of the project. Therefore, the governance proposed SPC to provide a money amount of over 23 billion dong to compensate for all damages. Currently, the foreign investor has not replied.

Sai Gon Tiep Thi - September 17, 2009