The
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development has ordered agriculture officials
in central provinces to test cooking salt produced there for toxic metals after
recent mass fish deaths have raised concern about the safety of coastal waters.
Nafidad,
the ministry’s National Quality Assurance Department, has advised authorities
in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Khanh Hoa, and Ninh Thuan to test samples from
at least three local producers for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
It also
instructed its three offices in Khanh Hoa, Da Nang and the northern port city
of Hai Phong to conduct similar tests.
Given the
unusual fish death in the central region in recent weeks, the tests are
necessary to ensure public safety, Nafidad said in a statement.
At least
100 tons of fish washed ashore last month in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and
Thua Thien-Hue Provinces, apparently killed by industrial effluents.
People
are stocking up salt and fish sauce with production dates preceding the
disaster. Many are afraid that batches coming after that are unsafe.
Seafood
consumption has also gone down, putting thousands of families in fishing
villages along the central coast in a dire situation.
The
biggest environmental crisis in Vietnam’s history has also tested the
capability of the country to detect and handle large-scale disasters, which so
far seems to have disappointed many.
Fingers
have been pointed at Taiwanese steel plant Formosa, which admitted it has a
large sewage pipe going straight into the sea in Ha Tinh. But it claimed all
its discharged wastewater had been treated.
The
environment ministry promised a thorough investigation by asking more than 100
experts from across the country and overseas to help. But it has yet to
announce any findings.
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