Cemetery project threatens Life of the River

LookAtVietnam - It remains questionable why the cemetery project near the Dong Nai River which threatens the life of the river, has been approved.

In early July 2011, Dona Coop announced the project on building a cemetery which is expected to be the most modern one in Vietnam, to be located on the advantageous position in accordance with oriental geomancy.

However, worries and doubts have been raised about the feasibility of the project. The position which the investors calls “advantageous position” is, in fact, is just 100 meters far from the Dong Nai river. Therefore, they have every reason to worry that the cemetery would pollute the river and threaten the means of subsistence of thousands of local people.

The paradise for the dead…

The An Vien Vinh Hang cemetery covers an area of 116 hectares in the first phase, capitalized at 500 billion dong and it is expected to become operational from the end of 2011. After that, 200 hectares more would be expanded in the second phase of the project.

The report about the possible environmental impacts of the project shows that the land fund here is enough for 100,000 graves. On the website which introduces An Vien Vinh Hang, one could see the images of the cemetery in the future which is described as the paradise for the dead.

A man, who introduced himself as a client of An Vien Vinh Hang because he is seeking the place for his father to rest in peace, said that his father feels satisfactory with the project.

…could be the danger for the living

Right after the project on the most modern cemetery in Vietnam was announced, experts have raise doubts about the environment conditions. The report on possible environmental impacts of the project made by A Dong Technology Development and the Environment Company still has not given necessary detailed factors about the project.

Under the project, the 112 hectare cemetery would be enough for 100,000 graves. However, no one can say for sure that such a big number of graves would not cause the pollution to the nearby Dong Nai River. It may happen that the water would be leaking from the graves during the disintegration of dead bodies and flowing to the Dong Nai River, just 100 meters away.

Meanwhile, the Dong Nai River is providing clean water to Dong Nai provincial local residents. At present, besides the Thien Tan water plant which provides clean water to Dong Nai’s people, there are three more plants which use water from Dong Nai River, namely BOT Binh An, Thu Duc ad BOO Thu Duc, to process clean water to supply to the 10 million people in HCM City.

The total volume water that BOT Binh An, Thu Duc and BOO Thu Duc absorb from Dong Nai river to serve HCM City dwellers is about 1.2 million cubic metres per day.

What will happen if the Dong Nai River gets polluted and it cannot provide safe water to local residents any more?

The investor has committed that modern technology would be used to ensure the safety for the environment. Ferro-concrete tanks will be built while the tanks will be covered with waterproofing geotextile fabric which allows to prevent the water from leaking.

The report on possible impacts on the environment affirms that the water leaking from graves “will not happen”.

However, in another statement, the investor has only committed to minimize the pollution to the underground water. Meanwhile, there is a big difference between “will not happen” and “minimize the impacts”.

Dr Nguyen Minh Hoa from the HCM City University for Social Sciences and Humanity has noted that the environment impact report only provides some general information about the project, while a lot of questions still cannot find the answer in the report.

Lao Dong