To the nearly 20 million inhabitants of the Mekong Delta
who are deprived of their voice
To the Friends of the Mekong Group
NGÔ THẾ VINH
順天者存，逆天者亡
Thuận thiên giả tồn, nghịch thiên giả vong
Thuận với thiên nhiên thì còn.
Nghịch với thiên nhiên thì mất. [Mạnh Tử]
“If you conform to the laws of Heaven you will endure
If you disregard them you will perish” [Mencius]
“All development plans must take into consideration the – environmental costs – vis a vis the health of the people as well as the natural resources in the long term of the nation.” Ngô Thế Vinh
*
Introduction:In recent history, the post 1975 years, the term “rehabilitation” used by the Vietnamese Communists, in all aspects and in the cruelest sense of the word,conveys the most abysmal connotations that invoke thedehuminazation of the individuals, destruction of the environment, depletion of the resources, resulting in a country devoid of a future. This is the second installment concerning the 48 years of the rehabilitation of the Mekong Delta carried out by the Vietnamese Communist Government that brings about the devastation of the most fertile delta area of Asia and also of the world, as well as the impoverishment of the whole nation.
THE ELEMENTARY LESSON: ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW (1)
Our forefathers, the settlers of the South, used the popular saying “ngăn sông cấm chợ” to admonish us that regardless of what we do, we should never block the rivers and ban the markets lest such actions will go against the free and open spirit of the inhabitants of the Mekong Delta. [Dương Văn Ni PhD., Cần Thơ University].
Even among the environmental scientists, the notion of “Environmental flow” is not new.
Prior to the 1950s, it seemed as if all attempts were focused at the exploitation of water resources to serve the development efforts leading to massive constructions of hydroelectric dams and rechanneling of rivers all over the face of our planet.
Going into the 1970s, the people started to be aware of the nefarious impacts caused by the dams built on the river currents as a result of the implementation of – unsustainable development – policies. In particular, the degradation of the quality of water resources and their negative impacts on the ecosystem. Tentative steps to remedy the situation were introduced.
Come the 1990s, the importance of the mode of natural flow – special attention was expressly given to flow regime that is considered a “health index” of a river within a healthy freshwater ecosystem.
In advanced countries, thanks to timely remedies, improvements were achieved in the quality of water. However, the biodiversity in the water resources still remains degraded. Then, what is main reason leading to that failure?
It is: “flow”considered as the – master variable influencingall the other variables like: water quality, energy cycle, physical habitat, and biotic intereactions – they all have a hand in the harmonization of the freshwater ecological systems. [Karr 1991, Poff et al 1997]. (1)
Picture 1: Environmental Flowis defined as the volume and quality of waterflowing in a stream or river over time. This measure is basedon the volume and quality of water flow that sustains a freshwater ecosystem essential to life - including humans - that depends on it. The Environtmental Flow encompasses 5 elements that need to be considered: (1) Hydrology; (2) Biology; (3) Water quality; (4) Connectivity; (5) Geomorphology. https://www.alberta.ca/about-environmental-flows.aspx (1)
Recently, special attention is given to minimum flows to achieve pollution dilution in order to prevent any harm done to the river and ensure the livelihood of the inhabitants, fish species as well as organism living in the water.
If master variable is not maintained while adjustments are done only to some of the variables then the restoration of a healthy ecosystem cannot be attained.
Anthropogenic alterations on the “regime of natural flow” are at the roots of the crisis facing today’s ecological biodiversity of the world freshwater system. Those are: closed discharge sluices, dams, current diversion, discharge of wastewater into the watersource, land use, and climate change.
To maintain the ecological flow requires consistent and interdisciplinary measures. The Nature Conservancy recommends the use of “hierarchical framework” to determine a sample of the flow so that a timely adaptive management of flow can be administered. (1)
In general, we can draw a picture of the Ecological flow of the 3,000 mile long Mekong River that meanders through 7 countries (Tibet counting as a country) as follows:
“The Mekong River is a lifeline. To preserve itis to maintain an‘ecological flow – environmental flow, conducive to the safeguard of a basinwith a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.’More specifically, to maintain a regime of flow of clean freshwater and alluviato nurture a richaquatic ecosystem (fish, shrimp, algeas, andmicroorganisms) and an abundant agricultural base (rice, fruit trees), the indispensablefood sources of the region. And by the same token, to preserve the riparian cultures of the 70 million people who live along the banks of the Mekong River.”
THE SERIES OF HYDROELECTRIC DAMS ON THE UPPER MEKONG
We are already approaching the close of the second decade of the 21st Century (2017) and the MRC has appointed Mr. Phạm Tuấn Phan to assume the position of CEO / MRC Secretariat (2016-2018). This is the first time that a native of the region receives such an honor. Born in Hanoi, he holds Master’s and Doctor’s degrees in Physics and Computing from the State University in Belarus, in the former Soviet bloc. It is interesting to note that Mr. Phạm bears two identities: citizen of both Vietnam and the Mekong.
A Regional Forum on the hydroelectric project Pak Beng 912 MW, the third mainstream dam in Laos was held in Luang Prabang on 22/02/2017. In an exchange with news corespondents – including ecological reporter Lê Quỳnh, of the Người Đô Thị newspaper, Mr.Phạm Tuấn Phan categorically remarked: "Hydroelectricity does not cause the demise of the Mekong River. I think we should understand this first ". Had he remembered the fundamental fact that it is “Ecological flow” that keeps the Mekong River alive, he would not have made such a statement. [Picture 2]
The statement by Mr. Phạm Tuấn Phan in the capacity of head of the Mekong River Commission, an international organization [Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam] is not onlyout of date, lacking in basic science concept, counter to the many international environmental conservation organizations and those local to the Mekong Basin in the years past. The uncalled for opinion of Phạm Tuấn Phan PhD has caused much harm to the efforts of preserving the Mekong River over the years. It also shows a lack of responsibility toward the communities that inhabit along the river banks including the nearly 20 million who live in his motherland, the place where “the peasants in the Mekong Delta are struggling to eke out a living." It is an undisputed fact that a large number – almost two million have left their homes for cleaner pastures.
Picture 2: right, at a Regional Forum in Luang Prabang (22/02/201) concerning the Hydroelectric project Pak Beng – the third mainstream dam in Laos, in an exchange with correspondents including ecological reporter Lê Quỳnh(5)of the Người Đô Thị newspaper (holding the microphone), Mr. Phạm Tuấn PhanCEO/MRC has categorically remarked: "Hydroelectricity does not cause the demise of the Mekong River. I think we should understand this first." Certainly Mr. Phạm Tuấn Phan would not have said it if he understood what the “Ecological flow” does in order to prevent the Mekong River from dying.[Photo by Thiện Ý]; left, ecological reporter Lê Quỳnh, on the Mekong North of Laos. [source: Earth Journalism Network, 2017]
For the past three decades, this author and the Friends of the Mekong Group (5) have relentlessly raised the alarm about the threats emanating from the mammoth dams of the Lancang-Mekong Cascades in China, the series of the 9 mainstream hydroelecltric dams in Laos, to be followed by the 2 dam projects in Cambodia. We also have discussed their nefarious impacts on the entire ecosystem of the Mekong River Basin and Mekong Delta i.e: obstruction and reduction of the current flow, loss of alluvia in the dam reservoirs upstream. The unwanted result: The age old alluvia accretion in the Mekong Delta is now being replaced by a gradual disintegration of the Delta: river banks and sea coasts that are suffering from erosions and the Cà Mau Cape losing 600 ha of land per year.
On the day Mr. Nguyễn Mạnh Cầm the Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam signed the 1995 Agreement of the Mekong River Commission he committed the strategic mistake of forgoing the veto power that was inherent in the 1957 Treaty of the Mekong River Committee under the Republic of Vietnam.
Reality shows that for almost half a century, Vietnam the country that lies at the end of the current finds itself powerless to put a stop to any hydroelectric dam projects upstream. Moreover, it was actually the Vietnamese state-owned companies acting as interest groups that put up the funds and know-how to build a number of hydroelectric dams in Laos and Cambodia thus accelerating the self-destructive process.
_ In Laos: The government of Vietnam gave the green light to the state-owned PVPC / PetroVietnam Power Co. to become the lead investor in the project to build the largest main stream hydroelectric dam Luang Prabang (1,460 MW) in Laos. It was no secret that this dam built upstream would wreak havoc on an already fragile ecosystem of the Mekong Delta. The excessively high economic and social costs the 20 million inhabitants of the 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta must pay can be seen plainly in each furrow they plow, every sip of water they take, even each bowl of rice, dish of fish they eat. [Engineer Phạm Phan Long PE, Việt Ecology Foundation] (6)
_ In Cambodia: State-owned EVN (Electricity of Vietnam) contributed 10% of the total cost of US$ 816 to build the largest tributary dam Lower Sesan 2 (400 MW) in Cambodia. The remaining fund will come from Cambodia Royal Group and the Chinese Hydrolangcang International Energy Co., Ltd.. Again, besides the dams on the Mekong Cascade in Yunnan, the long tentacle of China has extended to the dams built on the tributaries downstream. [Picture 3 b]
Picture 3: The state-owned companies of Communist Vietnam work in tandem with interest groups to brush aside any moral considerations in their search for profits anywhere in the world – even at the expense of their own country.Left, state-owned PetroVietnam is the lead investor of Luang Prabang Dam (1,460 MW), the largest hydroelectric dam in Laos. (6)[source: Michael Buckley]. Right, state-owned Electricity of Vietnam has invested money and know-how in theLow-Sesan-2 (LS2) Project(400 MW), the largest downstream tributary hydroelectric dam in Cambodia that causes direct detrimental impacts on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. [source: Decarboni]
The question arises: Why does the government of Communist Vietnam that is certainly aware of the situation still keep a blind eye to the environmental and social damages that ensue? The answer is clear: On one hand we have leaders in Hanoi who command absolute power to decide and are receiving a share of the profits from the interest groups while on the other hand the people who are robbed of their voice and forced to suffer all losses with its implications to future generations.
Picture 4: The drought in the Mekong Delta. People still remember the painful event when former Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng had to call on China to discharge the water from the hydroelectric Jinhong Dam in Yunnan to save the Mekong Delta from drought at the closing days of March, 2016. It was to no avail - a call that fell on deaf ears. [source: VNExpress 03.11.2016]
Facing the danger of losing current flow, freshwater source, alluvia, and the entire fertile Mekong Delta that is gradually sinking into the ocean, the offsprings of the brave generations of pioneers during the Southward March more than three centuries ago, now find themselves powerless, robbed of their voice and shamefully beating a retreat before the prospect of losing the entire Civilization of Orchards/ Văn Minh Miệt Vườn in a not-too-distant future, possibly in the next century if a timely remedy could not be found. Then, we may see larger and larger surges of ecological refugees, on a national scale, in the middle of this 21st century.
LEADERS FROM THE NORTH
There are no lack of talents in the three regions of the country. Regrettably, the very nature of their personality and independence render them undesirable in the eye of the authorities and their ability or “gray matters” just go to waste.
Since its establishment in 1995, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has gone through four ministers all coming from the North:
_ Nguyễn Công Tạn, Thái Bình, Northerner, 1995-1997
_ Lê Huy Ngọ, Thanh Hoá, Northerner, 1997-2004
_ Cao Đức Phát, Nam Định, Northerner, 2004-2016
_ Nguyễn Xuân Cường, Hà Tây, Northerner, 2016-2021
All through that time, the Mekong Delta – a fragile ecosystem comparable to a living body, has been made subject to vivisection by these northerners who used huge scalpels reserved for buffaloes in the performance.
Just recently, since April 2021, for the first time, a native of the South Mr. Lê Minh Hoan MS, took over the helm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. He is a graduate of the School of Architecture and the sixth child of the family. Born in the Đất Sen Đồng Tháp, a region famous for its lotus flowers, he is also known by the nickname Chú “Sáu Sen – Six Lotus”. Now more than ever, the Mekong Delta is in dire need of a new leader with a new outlook to revive an entire delta that is on its last breath.
Professor Võ Tòng Xuân rejoices at the news. In an exchange with a reporter of Dân Việt on 08/04/2021, Doctor Rice VTX stated: “The new Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is an able person, energetic, with a deep vision. Particularly, he possesses an extensive understanding of the agricultural production in the Mekong Delta.” He went on to offer a suggestion that Minister Lê Minh Hoan should set up an advisory group to work with him directly. "This advisory group would consist of experts, scientists tasked with the responsibility to support, research, counsel on pertinent issues allowing the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to arrive at accurate, clear, concrete policies to speed up the growth of Vietnam’s agriculture."
As far as the staffing of that advisory group is concerned, this author immediately think of the Research Group of Cần Thơ University with its work “Đánh giá Các Hệ thống Ngăn Mặn Vùng Ven Biên Châu Thổ Cửu Long & Dự án Thuỷ Lợi Sông Cái Lớn – Cái Bé/Assessment of the Coastal Control Systems in the Mekong Delta & The Cái Lớn – Cái Bé Rivers Irrigation Project (06/9/2018)”. Well known names like: Lê Anh Tuấn PhD, Deputy Director, Research Institute for Climate Change, Nguyễn Hữu Thiện MS, independent expert on ecology, Dương Văn Ni PhD, expert on ecology and natural resources, Nguyễn Hồng Tín PhD, Head of Agricultural Systems - Mekong Development Research Institute; Đặng Kiều Nhân PhD, Director of Mekong Development Research Institute.(2)
Those are scientists who possess vast experience on environmental issues, trampled all over the fields covered with alum, and wrestled with the problems facing the waterways in the Mekong Delta. Several of them have actively participated in the formulation of the “Quy hoạch Tích hợp Vùng ĐBSCL thời kỳ 2021-2030, tầm nhìn đến năm 2050 / Integrated Master Plan of the Mekong Delta period 2021 - 2030 , vision 2050.” hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.(4) The company Royal Haskoning DHV was entrusted with the research and writing of the report with the collaboration of a group of Dutch, German, and Vietnamese experts. Due to the extremely complex issues involved, it took three years for the report to be completed. According to Lê Anh Tuấn PhD who contributed to the project as “expert in environment and agriculture”, “’At the present time, it is still too early to come to an evaluation of the practicality and feasibility of this report NQ13/BCT – and at the same time its content.” As stipulated by the Integrated Master Plan, each province in the Mekong Delta is required to come up with its own plan in accordance with the Integrated Master Plan for the Mekong Delta region.
Faced with the challenges posed by the many implications of the post 1975 era, this is the time for the son of Đồng Tháp Mr. Lê Minh Hoan to prove his mettle. In the immediate future, the Minister needs to demonstrate his ability to evaluate objectively and scientifically the projects to address the threats that befell the Mekong Delta over the last 48 years and most recently the Super Sluices of Cái Lớn.
A SERIES OF “REHABILITATION” FAILURES: NO ONE TO BLAME
The “self-destructive” measures taken by the Communist authorities in Vietnam pertaining to the Mekong Delta over the almost half century, namely the “nature unfriendly” projects, resulted in the destructive and accumulative impacts on the resources and livelihood of the most fertile delta of Asia as well as the food basket of Vietnam.
Here is a list of several “re-education projects” in the Mekong Delta after 1975:
_The construction of Spillway Rubber Dams Project to contain the flood water: these dams are used to allow for more land to plant three crops of high-yield rice a year. Unfortunately, they have dried up the two huge water reservoirs in the quadrilateral Tứ Giác Long Xuyênand the Đồng Tháp Mười Depression.
_ Anti-salinity irrigation projects on the river currents led toobstruction of the current flow, disruption of the Mekong Pulse of the entire ecosystem of the Mekong Delta: notably the 3 big projects: (1). Freshwater Project in the Cà Mau Peninsula,(2) Ba Lai Dam, and most recently the (3) Cái Lớn Cái Bé Irrigation Project proclaimed the Project of the Century. [sic]
(1) Irrigation Projects in the Cà Mau Peninsula: A Succession of RegretsThe three mammoth projects: Ô Môn – Xà No and Ngọt Hóa Bán đảo Cà Mau “with construction costs amounting to thousands of billion of dong, to this day, the cost-benefit analysis of those projects has yet to be done” [Dương Văn Ni PhD, Cần Thơ University]. Throughout the period from 1990 to 2000, investments have been funneled widely into the construction of hundreds of sluice gates, drains, sea dikes, river dikes to either fight salinity or save freshwater. In the estimation of the irrigation branch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development [under the stewardship of the Ministers Nguyễn Công Tạn, 1995-1997 and Lê Huy Ngọ, 1997-2004], the freshwater irrigation system running from the Hậu River to the Cà Mau Peninsula will supply water, mainly used in rice cultivation, to 70,000 ha in Bạc Liêu Province, 50,000 ha in Cà Mau Province and 66,000 ha in Kiên Giang Province.
Picture 6: left, Map of the Irrigation Plan for the Southern part of the Cà Mau Peninsula; right, Âu thuyền Tắc Thủ designed and built by Cty CP Tư vấn XD Thủy lợi II in 2001 at the three-way intersection of the rivers Ông Đốc - Cái Tàu - sông Trẹm, Cà Mau, at an investment cost of nearly VN$ 80 billion when completed in 2006. It proved to be not only useless but also an obstruction to river traffic. [photo by Nguyễn Kiến Quốc] (2)
Picture 7: At the places where rivers cease to flow, a Mekong Delta defaced by pollution and an ecological habitat suffering from a slow death. [photo by Ngô Thế Vinh 12.2017]
Those mega projects give rise to immediate impacts:
_ On the Ecosystem, Since the current flow is often halted by the dikes, the organic interplay between the river and ocean is completely turned off during the time the dikes are closed. By the time they are reopened, the pollution that has accumulated in the meantime, flows downstream with the current destroying the habitat and marine food source at the estuary and nearby coastline.
The inland section of the gate no longer is washed clean due to the disappearance of the daily high and low tide or the biweekly spring and neap tide. Before the sluice gates and dikes were built, the tides in the rivers and canals in the Cà Mau Peninsula, though not regular, can reach an amplitude of almost 2 meters in height. Consequently, the dikes are closed throughout the Dry Season then the occluded section of the river turns into a stagnant pond and the pollution worsens. Waste from residential areas as well as toxins from chemicals used in farming like pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers flow down from upstream and accumulate in very thick layers. [Picture 7]
_ On Projects: the anti-salinity dikes turn into unexpected obstructions to the traffic on the rivers and canals. To deal with the problem, projects like the Âu thuyền Tắc Thủ had to be introduced in 2001. It was located at the three-way confluence of the Ông Đốc - Cái Tàu - Trẹm Rivers, in the two districts of Thới Bình and U Minh, Cà Mau Province at an additional cost of about VN$ 80 billion. This project was designed and implemented by the company Cty CP Tư vấn XD Irrigation II. Completed in 2006, the Âu thuyền Tắc Thủ Project [Picture 4] besides being useless also proved to be another hindrance to the traffic on the river. To this day, nobody has yet come forward to accept responsibility for this failed and wasteful investment. (2)
Picture 8: The people of Bạc Liêu then of Cà Mau call on one another to demolish the anti-salinity dikes. [source: private collection VTV, Giữa đôi dòng mặn ngọt 1998] (2)
After barely five years, the Freshwater Project in the Cà Mau Peninsula has laid bare the discrepancies between theories and realities that led to numerous difficulties in the lives of the inhabitants of the region. During the period of 1997-1998, hundreds of farmers have demanded that the dikes be destroyed so that they could again have brackish water to raise shrimps. In July, 1998 the farmers in Bạc Liêu Province marched in groups to destroy the anti-salinity Láng Trâm Dikes soon to be joined by the people in Cà Mau Province. [Picture 8]
Eventually, after 2000, the government relented and allowed the provinces in the project area convert 450,000 ha of rice paddies into shrimp farms. It also means that the government took a correction path to restore the lands in question to their original state and return to the natural ecosystem of annual fresh and sea water cycles.
Moreover, the waste of VN$ 1,400 billion notwithstanding, the Freshwater Project of the Cà Mau Peninsula still left in its wake damages to the environment and natural resources that furthermore impoverished the country. The Freshwater Project in the Cà Mau Peninsula failed to achieve most of its stated objectives.
(2) Ba Lai Irrigation Dam: A Bigger Disappointment
It was assumed that the “nature unfriendly” Freshwater Project of the Cà Mau Peninsula would serve as a lesson for all. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development soon afterward came up with the Ba Lai Irrigation Dam Project, district of Bình Đại, province of Bến Tre, hailed as the largest water project in the Mekong Delta. It too turned out to be a lesson unlearned.
Started in February 2000, this project straddles the Ba Lai River Estuary extending from the Thạnh Trị to the Tân Xuân Villages. Its initital cost was reported at more than VN$ 66 billion. In principle – as always “in principle” – the Ba Lai Dam was supposed to: fight salinity, retain fresh water for the use of 115,000 hecta of land, meet the fresh water need of over 600,000 inhabitants of the city of Bến Tre and districts of Ba Tri, Giồng Trôm, Bình Đại, and Châu Thành. In addition, it was to be integrated with the water and land transportation networks as well as improve the ecosystem of the region. [sic]
Two years later, in April 2002, the Ba Lai Dam went into operation and was acclaimed as the largest hydrological project in the Mekong Delta. Since then, the estuary of the Ba Lai River, one of the 8 estuaries of the Mekong River, was officially closed. [Picture 9]
Picture 9: Cửu Long The River with Nine Estuaries and two Currents; Tiền River 6 estuaries: (1) Tiểu estuary, (2) Đại Estuary, (3) Ba Lai Estuary, (4) Hàm Luông Estuary, (5) Cổ Chiên Estuary, (6) Cung Hầu Estuary. Hậu River 3 estuaries: (7) Định An Estuary, (8) Ba Thắc Estuary (9) Tranh Đề Estuary. The Ba Thắc Estuary is very small and filled by natural process a long time ago while the Ba Lai Estuary has been dammed by the Communist government in 2002. Consequently, we are left withMekong the River with Seven Estuaries and Two Currents. (2)
Picture 10: left, Since the construction of the Ba Lai Dam, the Ba Lai Estuary was closed. [Ba Thắc Estuary was filled for hundreds of years], and the estuaries of the Mekong River reduced to 7: Seven Dragons;[photo by Lê Quỳnh]; right, Closed waterways cause water hyacinths to grow profusely covering the surface of rivers or canals and denying access to boats. In many places, people resort to the use of herbicides to clear the waterways thus rendering pollution even worse. The water hyacinths also block the light and oxygen that are crucial to the existence of aquatic life. [photo by Ngô Thế Vinh 12/2017]
Picture 11: Building big dams to shut down the rivers in order to carry out the “freshwater conversion of the Ba Lai River” resulted in increasing the salinity of the entire province of Bến Tre; left, in the morning of 01.10.2020,under the auspice of The Government Program for Science and Technology[sic,] a conference was held to introduce to the public freshwater containers (with a capacity of 1 to 100 m3),manufactured by the plastic company Tân Đại Hưng [source: SGGP Online 1.11.2020]. Right, In order to survive the severe salinity, the people of Bến Tre had to buy “freshwater” in “plasric containers of all sizes” [eMagazine of Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment, 12.01.2020].
The construction of Ba Lai Irrigation Dam is extremely costly. Unfortunately, once the blunder is done, the demolition of the dam as well as the cleaning up of the environment prove to be even much more expensive. Not to mention the challenge of dealing with the changes in the local livelihood which is in itself not an easy task either.
To this date, the Ba Lai Dam has been operating for over 21 years [2002-2023]. What has it achieved so far? It has proved unable to contain the encroachment of seawater inland because countless rivers and canals still do not have dams or dikes to block seawater from flowing inland. It is estimated that an additional VN$ 900 billion are needed to fund the “dredging and accretion” to remedy the negative effects caused by the VN$ 66 billion project. Who would be brave enough to step forward and assume responsibility for this disastrous project?
Let’s listen to a measured, informed, and intelligent opinion of a son born and raised in the Mekong Delta, Dương Văn Ni PhD, expert on biodiversity and natural resources Cần Thơ University: “When implementing projects;building drains, damswe should pay due consideration to the wishes of the people. In my opinion, we should avoid investing too much of the national budget in the building of dams at the estuaries of big rivers. We are unable to evaluate how effective they are but can clearly see the harms they cause like in the case of the Ba Lai Dam”. [Tạp chí Thuỷ sản Việt Nam].
The ecology is not a chessboard we can reset with a sweep of the hand to start a new game. A question arises: considering the devastating impacts of the Ba Lai Dam then who is the culprit of the current irresponsible mishap – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the central government, or the Politburo?
Cái Lớn Cái Bé: Another Blunder of the Century
We have already seen questionable mega projects like the freshwater conversion project of the Cà Mau Peninsula with a total cost amounting to thousands of billion of dong, and the fiasco of the Ba Lai Dam whose cost and benefit analysis has yet to be completed. Now, the government forges ahead with the approval of the decree (498/QĐ/ TTg) to invest in the Cái Lớn – Cái Bé mega Irrigation Project! Consequently, the people cannot help wondering whether the mistakes committed in the previous projects will repeat themselves? [Dương Văn Ni PhD, Cần Thơ University].
The Cái Lớn Cái Bé Irrigation Project was the brainchild of General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng (2011 till present time), the two Prime Minsters: Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (2006-2016), Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (2016-2021), and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường, (2016-2021).
That project was introduced in 2011. It is viewed as an effort to deal with the rising seawater and climate change as well as to preserve land for rice cultivation and safeguard the food security for export in accordance with the general plan for the Mekong Delta approved by the former Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng on 04.19.2016.
The CLCB Irrigation Project Phase 1 was approved by former Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc* on 04.17.2017 based on the report submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The entire process from drafting of the project, feasibility study to the EIA report fell within a “closed circuit” under the direction of that Ministry. There were no indications of any participation from independent organizations or private parties.
The project investor is the Irrigation Construction and Investment Management Board 10 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Both the unit in charge of writing the project named the joint venture of Vietnam Academy for Water Resources – Southern Institute of Water Resources – Irrigation Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company II and the group responsible of doing the EIA the Institute of Marine Engineering Institute of Water Resources Planning of Vietnam are under the direct administrative control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that has the authority to issue direct orders to them. Throughout the whole process, the independent experts, civil social organizations and local people were not consulted or given a voice in the decision making phase of the project.
Picture 12: left, the EIA report, the Cái Lớn – Cái Bé Irrigation Project; right, the area covered by the CLCB Irrigation Project (pink) in the basin of the Mekong Delta.
According to the EIA report, the objectives (in theory) of the CLCB Irrigation Project Phase 1 include: salinity control, climate change, rising sea level, providing freshwater sources, increase flood drainage capabilities, and integrate the development of waterways and roads in the project area. The total investment cost of the Phase 1 is estimated at VN$ 3,309.5 billion (US$ 150 million).
Considering the project may have a minimum life expectancy of 50 years, or even longer, the EIA, incomprehensibly, focused much of its analysis on the project’s impacts during the preliminary and implementation phases. It barely dealt with impacts caused by the CLCB Irrigation Project after its completion.
It is noteworthy to mention that the EIA continuously reiterated the important opinion collected from 8 of the 39 villages’ People Committees during the public consultation process: “propose that the project investors earnestly implement the measures to fight pollution.” [sic]
Such a defective EIA report does not warrant approval of a “Project of the Century” that carries the threat of devastating the entire fragile ecosystem of not only the Cà Mau Peninsula but also of the Mekong Delta. The project will directly impact the livelihood, economic productivity of millions of inhabitants in the project’s areawhile there still remains a long list of unresolved technical problems.
The Cà Mau Peninsula Irrigation Project, the Ba Lai Dam, and more recently the Cái Lớn Mega Project of the century [Picture 13], are exacting devastating immediate impacts! Many scientists and enviromentalists have tirelessly warned that: absent anSEA / Strategic Environmental Assessment for the entire Mekong Delta any attempt to solve the seawater-freshwater issue locally by building dikes and dams at the estuaries of large rivers would result in the destruction of the age-old fragile ecosystem leading to a catastrophic outcome.
Picture 13: From project state (left) to realization (right); 03/05/2022, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (successor to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc) along with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Minh Hoan (successor to Minister Nguyễn Xuân Cường) attended the inauguration of the Cái Lớn Cái Bé Mega Irrigation ProjectPhase1. Only after over a year in operation (01/2022), “this “nature unfriendly” project of the centuryhas demonstrated its defects that are destroying the “Ecological flow” of a whole system of rivers and canals and causing negative impacts on the lives of the local population. [source: photo by TT Online 13/03/2022]
THE REHABILITATION OF THE MEKONG DELTA WITH HAPHAZARD PLANNING
In September 2022, Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, a former Vietnamese refugee who settled in Australia, made a long-awaited return to Cần Thơ after 40 years to serve as a visiting professor at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. During a trip to his hometown of Kiên Giang, which is part of the Long Xuyên quadrilateral encompassing the provinces of Kiên Giang, An Giang, and Cần Thơ, he made the following observation:
"Vietnam holds many surprises, one of which is the spread of the 'hightide' phenomenon from Saigon to Cần Thơ. This development is unexpected to me, given that it was not present 20 years ago. However, to a taxi driver, it is a common occurrence, and he offered an explanation for it. According to him, the canals have been replaced by unplanned constructions such as real estate and houses, leading to both land subsidence and frequent flooding.
At present, the waterways in rural areas have become stagnant and contaminated. The local farmers attribute this to a large irrigation project in the Cái Lớn - Cái Bé River, which was designed to prevent seawater, but as a consequence, it has also disrupted the flow of all the neighboring tributaries. The river adjacent to my countryside is severely polluted, and the concept of high and low tide is vanishing. I am left wondering why those who supported the construction of this enormous dam (that they called 'irrigation system') did not thoroughly consider its pros and cons beforehand. Perhaps they did, but the implementation failed? Regardless, nobody seems to be taking responsibility for the impact of the dam on the environment and crops." [Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, Diễn Đàn Thế Kỷ, 30/09/2022]
According to Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn's Facebook post, the 'super drain' designed to prevent salinity has caused significant damage. Even those who cultivate shrimp have been adversely affected, let alone the farmers in his hometown of Kiên Giang. If you venture into the canals, you'll see mechanical pumps running all night long. Why? To drain water from the rice fields into the river. The immediate cause is flooding in the fields, but the less apparent reason is the drain's impact on the flow of Kiên Giang's rivers. This drain, once considered the 'project of the century,' has made the currents static, and the concept of low and high tide is now in the past. Water overflows into the rice fields, making it difficult to manage and risking the rice stalks' death. The farmers said that this had already occurred, and they had to pump water from the fields to the river. The drain also exacerbates the river's pollution, making it difficult for fish and shrimp to survive. Water hyacinths proliferate in many canals, making navigation challenging. Prior to constructing this drain, an environmental assessment was likely conducted. However, it's unclear how they led to the present situation. Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn would like to see an environmental impact assessment to review the assumptions and methodology employed to determine if they're sound. The 'project of the century' requires a reevaluation of its pros and cons. Without independent assessments, the consequences of constructing such sluices, like CLCB Phase 2, will be manifold more serious.
According to Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, environmental pollution in rural areas likely contributed to the significant rise in non-communicable diseases like cancer, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. He warned that if this pollution isn't addressed, the health of the Mekong Delta's nearly 20 million inhabitants would be at great risk.
This statement made by Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn is being brought to the attention of Secretary General Mr. Nguyễn Phú Trọng, who is currently the most powerful person, and the current Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, who succeeded Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Mr. Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. The intention is to remind these two leaders that:
… In the middle of 2017, the launching of the Cái Lớn Cái Bé Project – by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under Minister Nguyễn Xuân Cường has engendered much heated controversy in reference to the many past failures of anti-salinity projects – notably the total failure of the Ba Lai Project, in Bến Tre Province. The overwhelming majority of independent intellectuals and leading experts on the ecosystem of the Mekong Delta have expressed their opposition and disapproval of the project.
Former Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc signed Resolution 120 NQ-CP in November 2017, this “respecting natural law” resolution was considered a historical milestone of agriculture in the Mekong Delta.But then – as always – interest groups, backed by considerable powers – persist in their demand to implement large irrigation systems like the Cái Lớn – Cái Bé (CLCB) Project. Those interest groups, in the North as well as in the South, unfailingly command enough influence to manipulate government agencies to review and approve their projects so that both they and the corrupted government officials receive their shares of the pie mindless of the impacts they may cause and the ever present poverty of the rice farmers.[Professor Võ Tòng Xuân]
While the former Prime Minister signed Resolution 120 NQ-CP with his right hand to implement a sustainable development of the Mekong Delta, at the same time, his left hand switched on the green light for the interest groups - backed by powerful quarters, to start the Cái Lớn Cái Bé Project, costing over VN$ 3,000 billion and plagued with countless drawbacks.(3) Actually the CLCB Project sounds the death knell of Resolution 120 NQ-CP. It prompts the independent environmental researcher Nguyễn Hữu Thiện to exclaim: “With the CLCB Project, Resolution 120 NQ-CP completely falls into the position of “strategic surrender” (3)
It is an open secret that, for nearly half a century, resolutions and slogans proliferated from the Politburo in Ba Đình Hanoi. In the meantime, resolutions and reality are oceans apart in the country for the last 48 years.
In fact, The CLCB Project is inimical to the "nature friendly" spririt of Resolution 120 / Chính phủ. After more than a year in operation, the Cái Lớn mega dam has demonstrated its drawbacks while the state news media tenuously proclaimed the: “The Extraordinary Benefits of the “Super Dam” [Lao Động Newspaper 01/17/2022]. On Wikipedia,* the interest groups insisted that the CLCB Project has faithfully observed the spirit of the “Government’s Resolution 120” anda number of localities in the western part of the Hậu River have petitioned the government to start Phase 2 of the project in order to stop seawater intrusion into the Mekong Delta” [sic]
_ [Notes from the author: Wikipedia* has been looked at as an open encyclopedia, easily accessible, providing useful information for research and reference. Young people should however be cautious when using it because much disinformation could be found in Wikipedia. It is used by the powerful propaganda machine of the Vietnamese Communist Government to mold public opinion in its favor].
“GRAY MATTERS” AND THE VOICE THAT FELL INTO OBLIVION
The Mekong Delta is a region rich in natural resources and never short of “grey matters” or intellectuals. However, the arrongance of the Communist leaders combined with the greed of the interest groups have caused “grey matters” to go to waste and the voice of those independent intellectuals fall into deaf ear or even threatened or oppressed. The author is referring here to the “Think Tank of Cần Thơ University.”
The research group of Cần Thơ University (2) clearly noted that: the system of sluices to prevent salinization has blocked the flow of freshwater upstream from flowing down (blue arrows) and the tidal energy from bringing in seawater from the ocean (red arrows). The end result shows the Mekong Delta is no longer being cleaned daily by (high tide – low tide), monthly (spring tide – neap tide), and annually (high water season – low water season) like before. Consequently, the dissolved oxygen content (DO) is very low and the waterways lose their self-cleaning capability to clean their water using their oxidation mechanism. [Picture 14]
Picture 14: Thanks to the energy of water flow from upstream (blue arrows) and that of the seawater from the ocean (red arrows) that the natural environment in the Mekong Delta is being cleaned daily by (high tide – low tide), monthly (spring tide – neap tide), and annually (high water season – low water season). This water energy also helps the water in the canals to circulate because of the extremely flat topography of the Mekong Delta. (2) The sluices and dams built by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development administer the coup de grâce to the current flow and heart beats of the ecosystem in the Mekong Delta.[The Mekong Research Group Cần Thơ University] (2)
The elimination of the ecological flow, resulted in: increase in the pollution of water source in rivers and canals, blackened water, foul odor caused by decomposing organic matters; and water source in irrigation zones totally no longer suitable for human consumption, including bathing and washing clothes.
The population has to resort to freshwater pumped from underground wells. This watersource is gradually being depleted and its level lowered. At places, the people have to drill to a depth of 80 – 120 m to reach the water. The demand for freshwater from underground wells are extremely high – while this water source is not unlimited – currently there exist over two million wells of this kind aggravating the rate of land subsidence in the Mekong Delta. Sometimes, it is recorded at 10 times greater than that of rising sea level.
_ On the Resources, aquatic food source also means the important protein source in the daily meals of the inhabitants of the Mekong Delta. It is now being seriously downgraded: the white fish in the current is facing extinction due to the rivers’ current being blocked by the sluices and dams. Only the black fish like snakeheads, catfishes, tilapias still survive in the stagnant waters of ponds and lakes...this is an unavoidable result when a riverine environment is transitioning to a lacustrine environment (Nguyễn Hữu Thiện, 2018).
The water habitats become extremely polluted. On top of that, water hyacinths are growing profusely covering the surface of rivers or canals and denying access to boats. People resort to the use of herbicides to clear the waterways thus making the pollution even worse. On top of all that, the loss of protein from fish, shrimps and other marine food has adversely affected the people’s health causing children to suffer from malnutrition.
Plants that usually prosper in brackish water, like the nipa trees, are damaged and die away because the brackish water is turning into freshwater. As a whole, the biodiversity of the ecosystem in the area of the project is being seriously degraded and devastated.
On Society, in places where sluices and dams are blocking the current flow, locals have to deal with more onerous cultivation, higher costs but reduced revenues, plus a polluted environment - all those factors start a growing ecological migration on its way. Many people left their fields to head for industrial complexes or the cities outside the Mekong Delta. (2) Over the last two decades, it is estimated that close to 2 million inhabitants of the Mekong Delta have bid farewell to their homes they consider a “land of milk and honey” where the rice is white, water clear, shrimp and fish abound to seek employment elsewhere. In that time of adversity, the women and children are paying the highest price.(2)
TOWARD NON-STRUCTURAL ADAPTATION MEASURES
Over the last 48 years, many extensive re-education projects have been implemented all over the Mekong Delta like: building dams to block waterflow, dykes to contain the waves or divert the rivers’current, a multitude of sluices to fight seawater intrusion … It can be said the “government experts” from the North to the South have displayed a total lack of knowledge of the Mekong Delta’s delicate ecosystem. They used “butcher knives reserved for buffaloes” to perform neurological surgery thus leaving behind long-lasting impacts that are very difficult to contain.
For millenniums, humans have learned to adapt to and live in harmony with the harshness of Mother Nature.That lifestyle has created a riparian civilization. When confronted with the issues of “sea and fresh water, climate change,land utilization, rising sea level,” it is unwise to resort to projects that are violent and in opposition to Mother Nature amounting to a disproportionate confrontation. It is high time for environmental scientists to look for “non-structural adaptation measures” aiming mainly at cohabitation with and adaptation to nature.
What is then non-structural adaptation measures? It is to avoid building large and permanent projects to deal with an ecosystem that is constantly changing: the constancy of a project proves outdated in a constantly changing environment.
Throughout the over 300 years of the development course of the Mekong Delta, farmers and fishermen have learned to live in harmony with nature, adapt to survive without causing harm to the environment, or to exhaust the resources that are not unlimited.
Some examples:
_ without a weather service, but thanks to empirical observation, the farmers learned to predict the weather, sunny or rainy times with some degree of accuracy and effectiveness
_ without a weather service, they learned to evaluate the soil in order to choose the right plants to cultivate, not only rice but practice polyculture in order to maintain soil fertility
_ without a weather service, they learned to do selective breeding, carry out aquaculture suitable to the habitat depending on the fresh, brackish or sea water.
In the face of a serious degradation of the environment that is mostly man-made like now, the government needs to help the people to:
_ live in a healthy environment. Not with the pollution that is poisoning them like now. Open the gates of the dams to allow the river currents to flow
_maintain the current flow and tides, the elements that help clean the heavily polluted environment we have today
_ impose strict controls to regulate the water and discharges coming from the plants built along the river banks like the thermal power plants the majority of which came from China
_ raise high the consciousness of the communities for the preservation of the environment: help equip their dwellings with minimum amenities like restrooms, garbage disposals instead of throwing everything into the rivers and canals as they are doing now
_ enforce appropriate zoning for residential areas, establish a reserve fund to work as a government insurance plan to help the people who suffer damages during times of extreme climate changes like in the year 2016
_ improve gradually a degraded environment, render its dirty water sources usable, reduce the need for underground water, lessen the rate of land sinking to less than 10 times that of the rising sea level of today.
_ _ To a certain degree, need to be proactive in the control and even acceptance of the damages emanating from climate change. But must be able to say “No” to the costly and self-destructive projects of today.
Lê Anh Tuấn PhD, former Vice Director of the Institute of Climate Change of Cần Thơ University gave a clear discussion of “non-structural adaptation measures” in the use of land and natural resources in the Mekong Delta with an emphasis on the need for a flexible interpretation: those are the "soft" methods with the advantages of low costs, ease of implementation, proactive preservation, improvement of the environment, nature friendly, preservation of biodiversity. The thing to keep in mind is it requires some time before we can see their effectiveness.
For example: Identify livelihood opportunities that prove compatible with the ecosystem and natural conditions: plant rice during the rainy season, raise shrimps during the dry one, raise fish in sea or brackish water, organize ecotourism - learn about the local culture; develop, exploit, process the peculiarities of certain plants, animals particular to each region (growing lotus plants, processing the plants, weaving of lotus silk, ... or a certain type of suitable dominant trees), develop renewable energy, gradually replacing fossil fuels, petroleum that emit CO2 and create green house effect along with higher levels of pollution...
Hình 15: an example of thediversification of the rural livelihood activities“non-structural adaptation measures”that does not wreck damages on the ecosystem of the Mekong Delta. [source: Lê Anh Tuấn PhD, Cần Thơ University]
Giving priotity to “non-structural adaptation measures” does not mean to refute all "projects " but necessitates a harmonious co-ordination, implementing projects only when needed, starting with smaller projects before moving to larger ones.
Lê Anh Tuấn PhD, Cần Thơ University, chose the khu vực lúa-sen-cá-du lịch in Đồng Tháp as a typical “non-structural adaptation measures” and drew this simple and easy-to-understand illustration for the use of the farmers.
THE SAME FLAWED SYSTEMIC PROJECTS
After almost half a century – more precisely 48 years after 1975, in a succession of systemic blunders, the Vietnamese Communist Government has hastily implemented large projects – they called “key projects” – very costly ones with the ambition to “re-educate” the Mekong Delta. As a rule, they recklessly interfered with and disastrously impacted the already complex and fragile ecosystem of the most fertile basin in Asia.
With a provincial approach, profit seeking mindset, they carried out their research using "pseudo scientific" methods in “instant gratification” fashion. In popular parlance: doing business with short-term goal. The whole process was under the control of interest groups composed of project investors. They gamble with the lives and livelihoods of the people and give a deaf ear to their opinions. At the same time, they suppress scientists for their criticisms, going so far as accusing them of being “reactionaries,” abusers of the privileges of freedom and democracy or in more lenient cases put them in jail for tax evasion. The government summarily brushes aside warnings from experienced and authoritative experts.
In spite of all the threats and suppression, there are still plenty of independent and courageous environmentalists who persist in raising the voice of conscience. They hold dear to the ultimate aim of protecting the entire basin and close to its 20 million inhabitants, alleviate the disastrous and lasting impacts on the resources of the country and of generations to come.
The immovable principle is: Primum Non Nocere. It is the primary lesson, the guiding light for all ministers, department heads of government branches to keep in mind before they decide to start any projects in the Mekong Delta. However, we have failed to see any evidence they have acted in accordance with that fundamental principle in real life.
ANALS OF NATURE UNFRIENDLY PROJECTS
It is possible to list a number of main projects that are wreaking havoc and lasting harms to the entire ecosystem of the Mekong Delta:
_Spillway Rubber Dams Project to contain flood water: [The Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development], these dams are used to allow for more land to plant three crops of high-yield rice a year. They severely degrade the soil, prevent the inflow of alluvia, and the stagnant water was turned into agents of pollution. At the same time they reduce the flow of water into the depression of Đồng Tháp Mười and the Quadrilateral of Khu Tứ Giác Long Xuyên that serve as a water reserve for the entire Mekong Delta during the Dry Season. This delta ranks second only in importance to the Tonle Sap Lake – often compared to the heart of the Tonle Sap and Mekong deltas.
_The Drains and Dykes Project to Ward Off Salinization:[The Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development],prevent the natural flow of healthy rivers and turn them into stagnant lakes or ponds, completely wipe out a brackish water culture and create chain-reaction disruptions of the entire Mekong Pulse of the ecosystem in the Mekong Delta.
_The 14 Thermal Power Plants Project:[Ministry of Industry & Trade], turn the Mekong Delta into a dumping ground for thermal power plants China discarded. The end result: a polluted land, water source, and air with the health of the people being neglected if not sacrificed.
_The Lee & Man Paper Plant Project: [Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment] this plant causes severe pollution on account of its wastewater mixed with all kinds of chemicals. It is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment that issued the permit for this plant to discharge the wastewater into the Hậu River slowly killing it. Moreover, the plant also emits poisonous smoke, foul odor, loud noise from its machines. As a result, the health of the people is being harmed every minute of the day.
_ The Quan Chánh Bố Canal Project: [Ministry of Communication & Transportation], The project to build the Quan Chánh Bố Canal and allow large-tonnage vessels to sail from the sea up the Hậu River to the ports of Cần Thơ requires an expenditure amounting to thousands of billions. However, it is causing miseries to the people while its economic merits are yet to be seen and still subject to heated debate.
The above list is far from complete. There still remain other small projects at the local levels in operation or in the development stage that do not require preliminary research or SEA process by independent experts.The same Professor Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, went on to note: "[…] it is still too premature to ascribe any merits – if any - to the scientists. From my observation in my native village, I realize that the increase in the output of plants and rice is actually the work of the farmers themselves. They achieve it through a trial-and-error process. They may not be familiar with the protocol to carry out experiments or the principle of randomization. They may not be verse in doing computation like engineers or PhDs, but through trial-and-error, they are able to do crossbreeding or create new species; invent harvesters, tillers, vacuum machines for water hyacinths…Scientists have nothing to do with those endeavors. The farmers may lack the words to claim credit for their works but, on the other hand, plenty of diploma-bearing ‘PhDs’ stand eager to claim them for themselves. It’s common knowledge that those who impoverish and make life difficult for the farers of the Mekong Delta are the food conglomerates with their headquarters…located in Hanoi."
In Vietnam, there is this popular advice to managers and scientists in the employ of state-run institutions: Don’t do anything, stay put and the people will take good care of you because when you do anything you are like a bull in a china shop.
In the opinion of Engineer Phạm Phan Long, P.E. of Viet Ecology Foundation
The most serious threat facing the delta at the present time is the pollution in the main water source emanating from ill-planned irrigation projects. Pollution should be regarded as a serious issue that all projects must strive to avoid.The Cái Lớn and Cái Bé Rivers Irrigation Project caused the Mekong Delta to be mired in worsening pollution - not different from previous hydrological projects but at a larger scale.
A NEW ITINERARY 2021-2030: INTEGRATED MASTER PLAN
Resolution 1163 / QĐ-TTg on 31/7/2020 of the Prime Minister approves the responsibility to formulate a new plan for the Mekong Delta for the period 2021-2030, vision 2050.
Nguyễn Hữu Thiện MS, was born in 1968 and grew up in a village deep in Hậu Giang Province. He graduated from Cần Thơ University majoring in Irrigation. In 1990, at the age of 22, he became the first employee at Tràm Chim Nature Reserve for the preservation of the Sarus cranes. Through the ICF / International Crane Foundation, in 1992, he was awarded a 4-year scholarship from the McArthur Foundation and obtained a MS in conservation biology and sustainable development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA in 1996. Upon his return to Vietnam, he taught the subject of ecology at Cần Thơ University for two years then worked for international organizations like IUCN / International Union for Conservation of Nature), WWF / World Wildlife Fund, and MWBP /Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Programme. Since 2010, he became an independent expert researcher on the ecology of the Mekong Delta. For more than 30 years, Nguyễn Hữu Thiện, along with other dedicated experts, continuously participated in research programs about the Mekong River and the Mekong Delta.
He is an enthusiastic supporter of Resolution 120/NQ-CP of 11/17/ 2017 concerning the development of the Mekong Delta in a “respecting natural law” in order to achieve a sustainable development and preservation of the riparian civilization in the Mekong Delta.
From 2018 to 2022, he served as expert for the Ministry of Planning and Investment, [under Minister Nguyễn Chí Dũng since 2016 to today], to provide technical back up to the ministry to supervise the international consultant that was formulating the Mekong Delta Master Plan. This Integrated Master Plan was approved by the Prime Minister in February 2022 and proclaimed in Cần Thơ. It conforms with the content of Resolution NQ13/TW of the Politburo.
Mister Nguyễn Hữu Thiện suggests that this Integrated Master Plan is the first of its kind in Vietnam dealing with interdicisplinary inputs at a regional level, a result of the Integrated Master Plan Law of 2017. In principle, it allows the delta to be treated as a living body instead of past monodisciplanry, disjointed plans. Though, in no way perfect, it represents a sea change in the way of thinking, coping with climate change, and sustainable development with an effort to adapt to instead of fighting and exhausting the resources of nature. It introduces a laudable precedent for future plans”. [end of quote]
ECOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY
The Mekong Delta, for countless years, has to endure numerous harms coming from different directions: loss of ecological flow caused by the hydroelectric dams built upstream, unsustainable if not self-destructive development projects right within its area, not to mention climate change.
Forest of gold, ocean of silver, fertile land, this adage in the kindergarden text book Quốc văn Giáo khoa has lived in the hearts and minds through generations of Vietnam’s youth. It no longer holds true in our days and age. We should not continue to perpetuate that bygone if not deceptive myth any longer.
Since 1975, the country is presumably “reunified” but it also marks the start of the destruction of the primeval forests, land (bauxite plants), waterways (the paper factory on the Hậu River), the coastal area (Formosa steel factory), resulting in the deterioration of the entire ecosystem of the country, desertification of the land, pollution of rivers and ocean, loss of aquatic food source, penury of water for drinking and domestic use.
The resources of the land have been sold on the cheap for short term gain without any thoughts to the ecological costs society has to shoulder. The people are reduced to do outsourced works, assembly jobs, or as hired hands – and the entire labor force is being exploited to the maximum.
In the name of “re-education”, the Vietnamese Communist government was and is recklessly walking on thin ice, using double standards, running after profits in lockstep with very powerful interest groups while the people are totally robbed of their voice – they are victims and servants on the land of their ancestors
With the future of this millennium in mind, it is imperative that we restore and preserve the rich ecosystem of our planet, also safeguard the diverse and ancient civilizations of the Mekong River. They cannot be exchanged for any short-term profits.
Since the year 2000, this author has observed: “No simple solution exists for the problem of the ecology. It requires a fundamental and coordinated transition of society’s institutions from “Authoritarianism” to “Democracy”. Democracy is the vehicle to educate and enlighten the inhabitants on the banks of the Mekong River who will gain their awareness and raise their voice in the defense of the river, their lifeline.
And then, the people will equally enjoy their rights, the right to drink a sip of clean water, breathe a sky of clean air, and enjoy their freedom. Those rights are indeed “human rights” only found in a democratic country.” Ecology and Democracy will forever be an “Inseparable Duo.”This is an arduous, life and death struggle, between light and darkness, good and bad, the duo “Democracy and Ecology”. At the other side of the equation we face the treacherous duo: “Dictatorship and Corruption.”
THE “HEART”AND POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY
The phrase “political responsibility,” can be viewed as a recent cultural characteristic (2023) in the 97-year history of the Vietnamese Communist Party. It manifested itself in the resignation of the second highest official in the country, President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.
Through the two corruption scandals of the Việt Á test kits and the “rescue flights” during the Covid-19 time, the people can understand that those events only represent the tip of the iceberg. And what about other huge embezzlements that are swept under the rug over the last 48 years?
In recent days, through live stream the Vietnamese discover that Chairman Nguyễn Phú Trọng pays much attention to culture, loves Ức Trai Thi Tập written by Nguyễn Trãi, and knows by heart the Tale of Kiều of poet Nguyễn Du. In a session of the National Assembly, in full modesty Mr. Trọng recited two lines from the Tale of Kiều to refer to his fragile human condition and limited abilities / Nghĩ mình phận mỏng cánh chuồn, khuôn xanh biết có vuông tròn hay không/.Only recently,on another occasion, the Chairman, referred to two new lines: “Có tài mà cậy chi tài, chữ tài liền với chữ tai một vần /Don’t give much trust to one’s talent, it goes in pair with calamity.”More movingly, for the first time, a staunch communist like the Chairman twice mentioned the “heart” in the Tale of Kiều: “That heart is worth threefold more than talent/Chữ tâm kia mới bằng ba chữ tài… In this case, those poetry lines by Nguyễn Du, would be more fitting if the word “talent/ tài” is replaced with “authority/quyền”.
Chairman Nguyễn Phú Trọng was born in 1944, well past the rare age of seventies. With the “chữ tâm/the heart Nguyễn Du used” and also referred to by the Chairman as a common starting point, the people” would like to address a few thoughts to him:
__ Concerning the Mekong Delta, taking into account the many blunders of the “key projects” over the last 48 years, with nobody so far coming forward to accept responsibility, we petition the Chairman to set up a “Task Force” of scientists and independent experts on the environment to review all “re-education” projects implemented by ministries, state agencies during the nearly last half century, evaluate and honor their performances if any [?] and at the same time assign blame when found. Are there any lessons to be drawn from those exceedingly costly errors?
Not long ago, a research done by a Dutch company has produced an Integrated Master Plan of the Mekong Delta period 2021 - 2030, vision 2050. It has been incorporated into Resolution 13-NQ/TW of the Politburo and the Chairman has read it before the National Assembly on 04/22/2022 venturing a “roadmap”for future development of the Mekong Delta.
From “Potentiality to Reality”, there exists a big divide. Its success depends on two factors: (1) reform of the institutions, (2) and well qualified human resources. Absent those two, no matter how well done the “Integrated Master Plan,” would end up as mere high sounding slogans.
_ On a national scale, while we are still on the subject of the “tâm/heart” mentioned by poet Nguyễn Du, has it ever occurred to the Chairman that the country has suffered enough through the 93 years of the existence of the Vietnamese Communist Party and the 48 years rule of the Communist government staffed by an army of party members wielding limitless authority but lacking a heart. He must acknowledge that his “political responsibility” or more precisely “historical responsibility” is quite momentous – It is now not too late for the Chairman and the Politburo to demonstrate the courage to initiate a bloodless “green revolution.” So that, step by step, the democratization process can begin, from the infrastructure up to the central government, to gradually hand back to the people their right of ownership of the land – a necessary and inevitable transition of history. The ebbs and flows of history are no different from an “ecological flow” with no “blocking dams.”
NGÔ THẾ VINH
California, March 01, 2023
References:
- The Nature Conservancy. Environmental Flows Concepts.
About Environmental Flow. https://www.alberta.ca/about-environmental-flows.aspx - Đánh giá Các Hệ thống Ngăn Mặn Vùng Ven Biên Châu Thổ Cửu Long & Dự án Thuỷ Lợi Sông Cái Lớn – Cái Bé Nhóm nghiên cứu:Lê Anh Tuấn, Nguyễn Hữu Thiện, Dương Văn Ni, Nguyễn Hồng Tín, Đặng Kiều Nhân. (Bản thảo ngày 06/9/2018)
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- Vũ khí giải cứu sông Mekong Chất xám và tiếng nói. Lê Quỳnh phỏng vấn Bs Ngô Thế Vinh. Báo Người Đô Thị, Saigon 25/04/2016
- Thư gửi 92 Đại Biểu Quốc Hội 13 tỉnh Miền Tây. Thuỷ điện Luang Prabang thêm một thảm hoạ môi sinh cho ĐBSCL và Lưu Vực. Ngô Thế Vinh. VEF, Jan 14, 2020.
Ngô Thế Vinh MD: graduate of Saigon School of Medicine, editor of SV Tình thương magazine, medical doctor of the 81st Airborne Rangers Group, resident with the University hospitals of New York, staff physician and lecturer at a hospital in Southern California. His book Mekong Drained Dry, East Sea In Turmoil (2000); it was later followed by Mekong – the Occluding River(2006), a travelogue, the English version of this faction has attracted the attention of international scientists and environmentalists. He devoted nearly 30 years of his life to the issues facing the Mekong River and Mekong Delta. Ngô Thế Vinh MD is not only an author, he is also a commited environmentalist. He has gone on trips along the 4,800km long Mekong River from its source to the East Sea. This article dicusses the current hot topics pertaining to the Mekong River and Mekong Delta. [The author in 2002 at the foot of the Manwan Dam, the first hydroelectric dam on the main current of the Lancang-Mekong, Yunnan China].
