Hydropower projects have contributed significantly to energy security for decades, but unplanned development of a number of small-scale plants have had negative impact on the environment, especially on forests in the central region.

After Typhoon Ketsana, for example, thousands of cubic metres of timber were washed from the upper to the lower sections of rivers in the region.

According to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, 11 big hydropower plants, with a total capacity of more than 5,000MW are located in the Central Highlands. The three provinces of Gia Lai, Dac Nong and Kon Tum are home to 257 medium- and small-sized hydropower projects.

The Dak Mi River in Kon Tum Province, which merges with Vu Gia River in Quang Nam Province to become Bung River, is providing water for four hydropower plants, the Dak Mi No1 (58MW), No 2 (90MW) and No 3 (45MW) in Quang Nam and the Dak Mi No 4 (210 MW) in Kon Tum Province.

"A drop of water from the upper section of Dak Mi River must flow through turbines of four power plants," Duong Chi Cong, director of Quang Nam Department of Natural Resources and Environment, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Cong said Quang Nam had approved 62 hydropower projects, including 10 plants located on Vu Gia River. Feasibility studies were being conducted on 47 other small- and medium-sized projects in the province.

In Thua Thien-Hue Province, construction is progressing rapidly at the hydropower projects of Binh Dien (44MW), A Luoi (170 MW), Huong Dien (81MW) and Thuong Nhat (6.5 MW) on the upper section of the Huong (Perfume) River. The province will have 12 hydropower plants by 2015.

Tuoi Tre said the development of small- and medium-sized hydropower plants was a major cause of environmental problems. To build the 7.5MW Dak Ru hydropower plant in Dak Nong Province, the N&S Co Ltd destroyed hundreds of hectares along Dak Ru Spring. After the project became operational in April last year, hundreds of households along the spring had to resettle in remote areas in Tuy Duc District because their former villages faced water shortages.

An official from the energy sector, who declined to be named, said investing in hydropower plants was attractive because of high profits and fast refunding. He added that it took investors from eight to 10 years to recoup capital in projects that require an investment of VND25 billion (US$1.4 million) per megawatt.

Tran Thi Oanh, general director of Con River JSC, the developer of Con River hydropower plant, said after two months of operation plant had generated more than 60 million kWh. With an annual production of more than 210 million kWh, the company would will recoup its VND1.05 trillion ($58 million) investment in the hydropower plant in nine years.

On the sideline of the National Assembly meeting in Ha Noi last week, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), Pham Khoi Nguyen, said the impact on the environment by big hydropower projects, such as Son La and Lai Chau plants, was being examined by his ministry. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and provincial authorities are inspecting small- and medium-sized projects.

Nguyen said he was not aware of the quantity of timber exploited by hydropower companies. He added that regulations required that the developer of a hydropower project must afforest an area equal to the area of forest its power plants supplant.

"However, we must admit that the examination and post-completion inspection of the impact of the hydropower projects had not been conducted well," Nguyen was quoted as saying by Tuoi Tre.

Tall buildings

Newly built office and apartment buildings, which house hundreds of employees and residents, have been identified as one of the main causes behind traffic congestion in HCM City’s inner districts.

According to Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, along the 3-kilometre-long Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in districts 1 and 3, more than 10 buildings have been erected in the past few years, each having from 10 to 20 storeys. These include Indochine, Centec Tower, Somerset, Itaxa and the Construction Corp No 1 Building.

Similarly, the 1-km-long Le Duan Street running from the roundabout behind the Cathedral Church to the Sai Gon Zoological and Botanical Garden is shouldering more than 10 office buildings each, having more than 10 floors. These include Sofitel Plaza Sai Gon, the Sai Gon Tower, Kumho Asiana Plaza and Diamond Plaza.

Together with a large number of people working in these buildings, the vehicles used by residents are overloading the infrastructure in these inner districts, which has remained unchanged for decades.

According to the HCM City Department of Zoning and Architecture, the streets in District 3 such as Le Quy Don, Tu Xuong, Tran Quoc Thao and Truong Dinh were designed by French architects long ago as roads for residential areas, with only two lanes and intersections some 200 to 300 metres apart.

But now the situation has changed, with the 1-km-long Tu Xuong Street bordered by six schools and restaurants. The same situation exists on Le Quy Don Street, with schools such as the Vietnamese-Australian International School and Vietnamese-American College.

Traffic jams on these streets occur during peak hours when parents stop hundreds of cars in front of the schools to pick their children up.

When residential areas are converted into functional zones with schools and restaurants, but infrastructure remains unchanged, traffic jams are inevitable, according to an editorial in Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.

Where’s the cassava?

Landless farmers in Tan Lap Commune, Binh Phuoc Province, have broken into Nam Dong Phu Industrial Park to grow cassava as hundreds of hectares in the park have been left fallow since it opened nearly 10 years ago.

Tran Van Thien, a resident in the commune, said the 150ha of land in the park, which was banned from use by farmers, has been left unoccupied and uncultivated since the land was taken for the project.

He said landless farmers had not been able to rent plots of land in the park for agricultural production because the land was zoned for industrial projects, not for cassava cultivation, according to IP management.

Bui Minh Hung, chairman of Tan Lap Commune People’s Committee, said the public and the committee had several times asked the district and provincial authorities to give the land back to people for agricultural production. They told the park’s managers that they would give it back to them when other investment projects were set up in the park.

However, Hung said, so far district and provincial authorities had not replied. The one office of Nam Dong Phu IP’s management board was always closed, he said.

According to Sai Gon Marketing newspaper, the IP was established in 2003, covering 205ha in Tan Lap Commune. In July 2004, Binh Phuoc provincial authorities assigned Duong Hong An Ltd to invest in developing infrastructure but ever since the IP has been left fallow.

Five months later, the provincial authorities decided to replace Duong Hong An with another IP infrastructure development company while the area was scaled down to 150ha.

The licence granted to the new infrastructure developer was revoked in September 2006. It was replaced by Dong Phu Real Estate joint-stock company a month later. — VNS

Source: Viet Nam News