Former official urges NA to have clear viewpoint about bauxite project

Dr. Chu Hao said in an interview with DTiNews that he expects the National Assembly to have a clear viewpoint about the bauxite project and give persuasive explanation to the public if stopping or continuing it.

Dr. Chu Hao

Bauxite mining in Nhulunbuy, Australia. Photo courtesy Professor Jenny Edwards, University of Technology, Sydney.

Chu Hao, former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, signed a petition on the project submitted to the Politburo, the National Assembly and the government recently.

Has the petition signed by 16 intellectuals, politicians and scientists received much support from the public?

Our petition has gotten strong support from the public, showing people’s belief in the intellectual and more important role of the public in major national issues. I know that, Dantri/DTiNews has conducted a survey on public opinions about the project, attracting 30,000 participants by October 28. Up to 92% among those agreed with us.

The Central Highlands bauxite project also uses the wet technology like Hungary. Is the red-mud spill in Hungary the reason for your opposition?

Not until the Hungarian incident but this project has faced with fierce disagreement from scientists, veterans and people since it was started. However, concerned agencies ignored their opinions. The Hungarian disaster has warned and urged Vietnamese people to care about the national fate more. We are now trying to carry out more forestation projects. Once the bauxite project is continued, it will destroy forests.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the investor, the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Group (Vinacomin), have pledged environmental protection during the project implementation. What do you think about this?

I doubt their commitment because they have failed in environmental protection efforts in coal mines in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Therefore, it must be impractical to say that they could do this in the Central Highlands region.

Why do you have such pessimistic viewpoints?

I am not pessimistic, but based on scientific analysis I’ve come to my conclusions. The Central Highlands region has great rainfall measured at between 2,000 and 3,000mm every year. Such rainfall can cause spills in toxic waste lakes such as red-mud ones. Besides, red-mud has a high capacity of corrosion, which is likely to ruin anti-seepage plastic layers at the lake bottom. As a result, the red-mud will absorb in the soil, affecting the life of local people.

To date, no anti-seepage plastic producers in the world affirm that their products are permanent, thus, the investor should announce the trademark of the plastic product used for the project. Several Vietnamese engineers joining the construction of fresh water lakes under the bauxite project said that the investor even missed geological surveys before beginning the project. I do hope that concerned agencies will clarify this information.

What are your comments about the project’s economic efficiency?

Recently, many economists have conducted detailed research on the project. Despite receiving only limited economic documents from Vinacomin, the economists used information obtained from various sources to calculate and affirmed that the project will surely be unprofitable.

Vincomin affirmed the profitability of the project but some economists denied this. What’s your viewpoint about this?

Examining analysis of the both sides, I think that Vinacomin has made serious errors when they did not calculate costs for material and finished product transport. The group also did not mention the possible aluminum market changes, even the incident like Hungary.

Why did you not oppose the project since it was first carried out?

We are not silent. Since 2009, when the project was just started, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association proposed moving the project near the sea and studying the project’s environment impacts in the Central Highlands. Nevertheless, until now, the impacts have not yet been researched.

One year ago, we sent Vinacomin our comprehensive analysis about the project’s impact on national security and defense. However, the investor has not yet done anything to prove its safety although the Central Highlands is considered the “roof of Indochina”.

What do you expect from the National Assembly on the project?

I only expect that the National Assembly will have a clear viewpoint about the project. It should give persuasive explanation to the public if stopping or continuing the project.

The project is being implemented, if it is stopped, will Vietnam incur a huge loss?

If we stop the project, we will lose hundreds of millions of USD but continuing it will cause a loss of up to hundreds of billions of USD. In this situation, we do not have a chance to select the best solution, but the one aimed to mitigate the loss the most.

Do you think that the Party, the State and the National Assembly will have a positive response to the public about the project?

The public opinion about the project are based on objective, scientific and subjective grounds and will surely become the winner in the democratic and jurisdictional country of Vietnam.

Thank you!