Hanoi - Government authorities have fined the Taiwanese-owned
condiment company Vedan 7.7 million dollars for discharging thousands
of cubic meters of pollutants into a river in southern Vietnam,
officials said Wednesday.

"We have decided to punish Vedan for its violations," said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha.

According to the decision released Tuesday, Vedan's factory in Dong
Nai province must halt all sewage discharges for six months and can
only resume operation when it satisfies regulations on waste treatment.

Under Vietnamese law, Vedan is subject to a maximum fine of 16,000
dollars, but the government has ordered Vedan to retroactively pay 7.7
million dollars in wastewater fees it has evaded for the past 10 years.

Local media report Vietnamese immigration police have prevented
Vedan executives from leaving the country until the company remediates
the environmental consequences of its actions.

Vedan executives will reportedly not be personally charged with criminal violations.

Inspectors accuse Vedan of discharging a total of 45,000 cubic
metres of contaminated effluents over the past 10 years, effectively
killing a 12-kilometre stretch of the Thi Vai River.

"The firm has repeatedly violated environmental regulations by
dumping untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River since 1994," said
Ha. "Vietnamese authorities have warned them, but things have not
changed much."

Government inspectors found the company had broken 12 environmental codes.

According to the government's web site, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung ordered ministries and provinces in June to tighten monitoring of
local as well as overseas companies in Vietnam and take action against
companies that pollute the environment.

"Pollution in Vietnam has reached red-alert levels," said Colonel
Nguyen Xuan Ly, chief of the Environmental Police Agency. "We will
strengthen environmental inspections on both local and foreign
companies."

According to Vietnamese law, discharging pollution or toxic
substances into water and failing to take environmental measures
despite orders from government agencies is subject to a fine of between
300 and 5,000 dollars for each violation, or between one and 10 years
imprisonment. (dpa)