[sustran] fwd: [environmentaljournalists] Ho Chi Minh Highway Project should be postponed

SUSTRAN Resource Centre sustran at po.jaring.my
Fri May 19 16:34:01 JST 2000


To: environmentaljournalists at egroups.com
From: Dharman Wickremaretne <sobacine at sri.lanka.net>
Mailing-List: list environmentaljournalists at egroups.com; contact
environmentaljournalists-owner at egroups.com
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 16:11:22 +0600
Subject: [environmentaljournalists] Ho Chi Minh Highway Project should be
postponed. 

   Hanoi, Vietnam - Misinformation and miscommunication characterize the
current state of the planned "Ho Chi Minh Highway" and the potential
impacts on Cuc Phuong National Park (NP). Since the Prime Minister lent his
support and the Government of Vietnam (GOV) gave the go ahead to this
project late last year, the highway has been attracting the attention of
the public in general, and has elicited a particularly strong from
environmentalists, conservationists and international organizations alike
working in Vietnam. This show of concern was the main reason for the
dialogue held on 17 May at the National Environment Agency, organized by
the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists (VFEJ).

The building of the Ho Chi Minh Highway is considered of high strategic
importance to the Government of Vietnam (GOV). As planned, the highway will
link the north and the south, facilitating the flow of traffic and goods,
and reducing traffic on National Route 1, currently the only north-south
highway in Vietnam. Additionally, the highway is advocated as an
opportunity for 28 million people (of 34 ethnic minority groups), including
200 of 1700 poorest communes, to improve their living standards and their
cultural and social conditions. Moreover, the highway is seen as a way to
reduce the negative impacts of the increasingly serious flooding that is
affecting the country. According to one report, the GOV plans to relocate
nearly 30% of the population living in the lowland areas of Thua Thien-Hue,
Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces to the highland areas which will become
more attractive with the building of the road.  Furthermore, the highway is
seen as a way to mitigate the problem of high unemployment, particularly
amongst the youth of the nation, by appointing scores of teams of "Youth
Brigades" to carry out construction of the road.

Despite the fact that the Ho Chi Minh Highway Project is an extremely
important program for the nation, a number of relevant governmental
agencies, conservationists, international organizations, and the public at
large have been given little information on the Ho Chi Minh Highway's
Master Plan and its environmental impacts. Although the highway has been
started in some provinces, it is not clear how much forest will be lost or
degraded, and what sort of impact the road will have on biodiversity in
general. 

According to the Project Management Team, a pre-feasibility study has been
implemented by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MTC).
However, given that MTC is the project implementer as well, there are
concerns about the credibility and objectivity of the study.  Moreover, at
the dialogue held at NEA, it was found that several ministries - including
MTC itself, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and
the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) - were
misinformed or not given the information necessary for a full understanding
of the potential impacts of the road.  It was also clear that officials
assigned to the project were not committed to transparency.  Mr. Pham Hong
Son, the Vice-director of the Ho Chi Minh Highway Project, said that Cuc
Phuong NP was not mentioned in any official document issued by MOSTE or
MARD. Mr. Minh, Vice-director of the Project, was quoted as saying: " I did
not know about Cuc Phuong.". 

Mr. Than, of Cuc Phuong NP, said that the park was not informed when the
survey team came to carry out its survey. However, he said that the Park
Management Board found out about the plan when park staff saw the surveyors
in the park. In reaction to Mr. Than's comments, Mr. Son responded by
saying that there are no signs and boards showing the borders of Cuc Phuong
NP. 

As is currently planned, the road will run through Ninh Binh Province,
largely following the old provincial road 437 (a remnant of the American
War), and straight through Cuc Phuong. Therefore the project designers
claimed that they were under the impression that there would be almost no
new road construction, and that they would just upgrade provincial road
437. Taking issue with that, Mr.Ross Douglass, Director of Fauna and Flora
International's (FFI) Cuc Phuong Conservation Project, pointed out that the
old road is in extremely poor condition and the majority of the traffic on
it consists of buffaloes; whereas the new road will be like a dyke cutting
through Cuc Phuong. 

"The other option would be to move the highway out of Cuc Phuong
altogether. It will require more money, but we will ultimately have to pay
much more if we lose Cuc Phuong's invaluable natural heritage," Douglas said.

It is not clear to what extent the relevant government ministries have
discussed and collaborated on this issue since the idea of the highway was
raised in 1997.  But it seems clear that little discussion occurred since
Mr. Nguyen Ba Thu, currently the Director of the Forest Protection
Department (FPD), and Cuc Phuong's director for 27 years, said that he was
never informed about how the road will cross-cut the park. 

It became clear that the project designers and appointed implementors have
little concern for environmental issues. Mr. Son said there is a
consultation team helping the Project Management Team in terms of
environment. However, it was pointed out that the manner in which the
Project Team is currently addresseing the potentially negative
environmental impacts of the highway indicates that this consultation team
is too weak to provide the information necessary to decision makers and all
relevant stakeholders. The team, however, believes that there is time to
change some important points in the plan since only a pre-feasiblilty
environmental impact assessement (EIA) has been implemented. One official
from MOSTE stated that the full-scale EIA is currently being carried out. 

In 1962, Cuc Phuong NP became the first national park to be established in
Vietnam. Its habitats represent the last stretch of lowland primary forest
in the north which is under protection. The park is home to Vietnam's most
threatened and critically endangered Delacour langur. Satellite maps show
that Cuc Phuong is connected with Pu Luong in Thanh Hoa province,
connectivity which, if realized, will create a large tract of protected
primary forest. 

Mr. Nguyen Ba Thu said that the Ho Chi Minh Highway will destroy this
ecosystem by cutting Cuc Phuong into two parts. He said that MARD and the
relevant government agencies must be informed and be given the opportunity
to provide comments to the planning process.  Such comment is particularly
necessary because the road will run along the Truong Son (or Ho Chi Minh)
Trail, through the Annamite mountain range, where the greatest remaining
stretches of natural forest and biodiversity in Vietnam is concentrated.
Moreover, the road will either abut or cut through nine other protected
areas in the country. "We have to consider this very carefully.  Otherwise,
new roads will turn single ecological units into fragmented pieces," Thu
said. 

According to Mr. Frank Momberg, Director of FFI's Vietnam Programme, it is
not too late to alter the highway and bypass Vietnam's protected areas.
Regardless, a thorough EIA in accordance with international standards is
required by Vietnam's own national laws.  Therefore, such an EIA should be
conducted before proceeding with construction. As part of this process,
alternative routing should be considered in order to minimize negative
environmental impacts. 

At the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ly, Director of the Environmental
Department at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Vietnam, said
that the donor community are very interested in the HCM Highway Project.
The issue will be raised again among the donors in coming meetings. 

"We should have the choice to advocate both development and conservation.
This highway issue should not be an issue of timing, because we must make
the correct decisions. We'd better postpone the planned construction of the
highway for further consideration, and for the sake of the long-term
development of the country," Ly said. 

VFEJ, the organizer of the dialogue, said that it hopes to have more press
coverage on the issue.  It will send the minutes of the dialogue to
government agencies.

***Nguyen Diep Hoa
Forum of Environmental Journalists (VFEJ)

...
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