Signs with crossed out “bô xít” went up along Bolsa Avenue. Viets all over Facebook on Earthy Day today posted “Save Tay Nguyen – Stop Bauxite Mining” logos as their profile pictures.
What’s this bauxite (or “bô xít” in Vietnamese pronunciation) and what is the issue? Who’s the “Tay Nguyen” that needs saving anyway?
First of all, Tay Nguyen is not a who, it’s a what. It’s not a person whose last name is Nguyen — it is the Vietnamese name for the central highlands of Vietnam (through which the notorious Ho Chi Minh Trail once ran).
Bauxite, in a one-word summary, is aluminum. It is the ore from which all aluminum is made.
The issue is the Vietnamese government’s decision to allow China to strip mine bauxite right in the Vietnamese central highlands, a strategically important location and an ecologically fragile tropical rain forest.
The potentially destructive effect of bauxite mining is so devastating that a wide range of Vietnamese across the political spectrum have spoken out loudly in opposition. Read here.
This includes Vietnamese in the U.S. and throughout the diaspora. It also includes numerous well known and well respected people in Vietnam. The U.S.-based Viet Tan opposition party calls on people to run the “Save Tay Nguyen” logo on their Facebook page (pictured right), in what appears to be the first time Viets use the social networking site for political purposes.
The writer Nguyen Ngoc, whose writings about the lives of communist soldiers along the Ho Chi Minh Trail served as government propaganda for years, has raised the alert that allowing bauxite mining in the area would result in the destruction of the health and livelihood of ethnic minorities living in Tay Nguyen, as well as hundreds of species unique to Vietnam’s highlands.
Most prominent among the opponents, however, is retired General Vo Nguyen Giap, the architect (or co-architect) of practically all of the communists’ military victories. Read here.
Gen. Giap also raised environment issue, but the word is that he was concerned more about the presence of tens of thousands of Chinese workers who will be allowed to move to the Vietnamese Central Highlands to man the mines. (See here.)
People are reminded that Gen. Giap himself had used the Central Highlands as the pathway to invade and eventually conquer South Vietnam.
The leading Buddhist dissident in Vietnam, Ven. Thich Quang Do, voiced his opposition and concern over the welfare of indigenous people. Read here.
The map to the right shows the area where bauxite mining has been allowed to begin. (To the left of the map are Laos and Cambodia; to the right is the Pacific Ocean.)
The area is home to 5 million people, many of whom are ethnic minorities. The destruction of the environment in that area would also directly affect two of Vietnam’s top exports: Coffee (grown in the highlands) and rubber (grown immediately downhill from it).
Raw bauxite has been in great demand since the world’s top producers have been outmining their reserves.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (here), Vietnam currently ranks practically bottom of the world in terms of bauxite production.
However, because other countries have been producing so much, their reserves are running low, pushing Vietnam’s reserve base to near the top of the world.
In a situation reminiscent of 19th century colonialism, it is only a matter of time before the greatest colonialist of the 21st century – China – goes into Vietnam to extract this untapped resource.
BTW, the term “bauxite” is not equivalent to other chemical terms such as sulfite or nitrite. A sulfite compound is related to sulfous acid; a nitrite compound, nitrous acid. There is, however, no such thing as bauxous or such acid. “Bauxite” is so named simply because the ore was first discovered in Les Baux, France.
Political Math :
Political Math & Reality :
1 million Vietnamese < Angela Jolie
Watch Olivia Newton John walked on the Great Wall in Beijing to raise awareness on Cancer treatment :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltN69yq-FY4
** The Red Cross is trying to set up a chapter in Vietnam.
Would you help the Red Cross ?
http://cicr.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/section-ourworld-yourmove
** Greenpeace International would like to establish its local chapter in Vietnam
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/worldwide
Climate and Clean Energy Conference by The Asian Development Bank on 15-19 June 2009 at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines.
http://www.adb.org/documents/events/2009/CCEWeek/default.asp
Strategy Roadmap :
Building Local Democracy through Natural Resource Interventions: An Environmentalist’s Responsibility
http://www.wri.org/publication/building-local-democracy
World Environmental Day 2009 :
Mexico to Host World Environment Day Under the Theme ‘Your Planet Needs You’ on June 5, 2009
http://www.unep.org/wed/2009/english/content/information_material.asp
Commemoration of the May 12 2008 Sichuan Quake :
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/12/world/0512-QUAKE_index.html
We feel the loss, the pain, and the hope of the Chinese People.
Map of China’s Cancer Villages :
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104340755978441088496.000469611a28a0d8a22dd
(1) Yancheng City, Funing County, Guhe Township, Yangqiao Village
Jiangnan Times: 2004 report
Due to its proximity to an agricultural chemical plant and two chemical factories, this village saw 20 people die of cancer (primarily lung cancer and esophageal cancer) between 2001-2004. Because the air and water were polluted, villagers would cover their mouths with a moist towel while sleeping.
(2) Yancheng City, Funing County, Yangji Township, Dongjin Village
China Business Report: 2008 report
After receiving heavy pollution from the Julong chemical factory, 100 villagers died of cancer between 2001-2006 (mainly esophageal cancer and lung cancer). Villagers would eat liver tablets every day. Villagers brought a lawsuit against the chemical factory, but each person would only receive a 70 yuan subsidy.
** The battle of this Anti-bauxite movement should not defensively focus on Tay Nguyen, but offensively wage in Beijing, in Zambia, in Mexico, in Europe, in Hollywood etc…
** The issue that concerns the world is Chinese labor practice.
** All Vietnamese should remember this famous quote ” the battle of the Vietnam War is not in Vietnam, but in France “
Hi Country First,
Thank you for the wealth of information about the environment impacted by bauxit mines and others. I admire your stamina & conviction on this matter, I think the public outcries begin to have the effect on the CCC.
NV,
Thank you for your comments.
China Pollution is reaching to California.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2895773n
Ill wind is blowing China’s bad air to America. Steve Cliff already sees Chinese pollutants on his monitors in northern California and worries about China’s ever-increasing dependence on coal.
“It stands to reason that if one new coal-fired power plant is built per week that more pollution will be evidenced here in the United States,” said Cliff.
That also means Americans pays a price for China’s polluted rise to prosperity.
Call for Action : URGENT ! ! !
Congress is considering H.R. 2192: Climate Change Safeguards for Natural Resources Conservation Act. by Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch.xpd
Call your local representative :
1. To request stronger monitoring of global air pollution reaching US coastal.
2. To facilitate global pollution control with China, and Vietnam.
3. To institute a stronger inspection procedure for food products coming from China for chemical contamination.
4. To establish an information clearance house to collect data on global pollution problems.
Chinese Air Pollution Reaching California :
Californians are breathing Chinese Air.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206416,00.html
China Toxic Chemical Spill Flowing Toward Russia :
Nearly a month after an explosion at a chemical plant in northeastern China killed five people and spilled 100 tons of cancer-causing benzene into the Songhua River, the damaging effects of the accident continue to spread.
The spill of toxic chemicals on November 13 poisoned the Songhua River, which provides drinking water to millions of people in China and Russia. The nearby city of Harbin was forced to shut off its water supplies to 3.8 million people for about a week shortly after the spill, and several other cities downstream from the spill have also cut their water supplies as toxic chemicals reached them.
The benzene chemical slick on the river, now approximately 90 miles long, is expected to cross the Chinese-Russian border on Tuesday, December 13.
Cold temperatures have slowed the flow of the river and the movement of the chemical slick, but Chinese and Russian officials expect the benzene to reach the Russian city of Khabarovsk next week. Khabarovsk, home to 580,000 people, plans to shut down its river-fed water system for at least three days to avoid contamination.
Website tracks East Asian air pollution
The map shows the institute’s predictions of the distribution of four common pollutants — yellow sand, aerosols, ozone and other man-made particulates — in the atmosphere over East Asia.
The distributions for every three hours are displayed using a combination of emissions data and atmospheric flow modeling. The maps themselves are updated at 9 a.m. daily.
http://www-gis5.nies.go.jp/eastasia/ConcentrationMap1.php
Take a look at China and Vietnam.
Pollution & Stress blamed for low China sperm count :
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPEK29006120070409
Vietnamese men might suffer similar pollution effects.
H.R.2192 Bill : Climate Change Safeguards for Natural Resources Conservation Act
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2192/text
Alec Baldwin to travel to Hanoi with the New York Philharmonic when it makes its Vietnam debut in October.
The star of NBC’s Emmy-award winning comedy “30 Rock” begins a side gig this fall as the new host of the national radio broadcast “The New York Philharmonic This Week.”
** It would be spectacular if we could request him to make a statement on Vietnam environmental issues.
** There you have it, a well known celebrity with long history of environmental activism.
http://www.alecbaldwin.com/
** Our prayer has been answered ! ! !
Chinese women and children are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation in Malaysia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Europe, Canada, Japan, Italy, Burma, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan.
Many Chinese are recruited by false promises of employment and are later coerced into prostitution or forced labor. Children are sometimes recruited by traffickers who promise their parents that their children can send remittances back home. In poorer areas, most trafficked women are sold as wives to old and disabled unmarried men.
In richer areas, most trafficked women are sold to commercial sex businesses, hair salons, massage parlors and bathhouses. Chinese children were also kidnapped and sold for adoption
http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/china
Beating up journalists in China :
As the media coverage of the one-year anniversary of last year’s Sichuan earthquake heats up, reports of attacks on international journalists trying to cover the issue are on the rise.
http://www.probeinternational.org/three-gorges-probe/roughing-journalists-china
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i6e35e0f4967c742aa268b4d1bb10dfa3
China to build many hydropower dams on the Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia.
Vietnam, being the last country of the Mekong river, will suffered the most with decreased water levels and increase soil erosion. This will subsequently have serious impacts on fish populations and people who rely on fisheries. It will also block the flow of fertile soil, which is important for agriculture.
The whole fertile agricultural region of Vietnam, the rice bowl of Vietnam, is threatened.
http://www.probeinternational.org/electricity-reform/expert-warns-against-dam-projects
Bloody Chinese occupation of Tibet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqjC9Wa3sxE
As of 20 March 2009, a total of 220 Tibetans have died under China’s brutal crackdown since 10 March 2008.
Four categories of death under China’s crackdown – Indiscriminate firing, Torture, Suicide and Starvation.
Indiscriminate firing into the protesting crowd that have resulted in Tibetan deaths have been confirmed in Lhasa, Ngaba, and Karze (Tongkhor Monastery, Chokri Monastery and Dabpa County).
Information available on 107 Tibetans with 113 yet to be identified.
http://tibet.net/en/index.php
Paul Krugman, winner of 2008 Nobel Economics, on his most May 2009 trip to China :
China Air Pollution reaching global crisis
The scientific consensus on prospects for global warming has become much more pessimistic over the last few years. Indeed, the latest projections from reputable climate scientists border on the apocalyptic. Why? Because the rate at which greenhouse gas emissions are rising is matching or exceeding the worst-case scenarios.
And the growth of emissions from China — already the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide — is one main reason for this new pessimism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/opinion/15krugman.html?_r=2
The Chinese Dragon Threatens Mexico’s Textile Industry.
Over the past decade, Mexico’s textile sector has derived some of its greatest benefits from tariff reductions that resulted from the country’s numerous free-trade agreements. That’s especially true in the U.S. market, where Mexico has been the leader for years. However, beginning in 2000, Mexico has faced growing competition from China. The Asian giant has provided headaches not only for the textile sector but for most Mexican businesses, taking a leading market share in U.S. textile markets. What steps can Mexico take to respond to this threat?
http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=911&language=english
El dragón chino amenaza de nuevo a la industria textil mexicana
http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=911&language=spanish
Mexican nationals quarantined in China.
Dozens of Mexican nationals quarantined in China despite having no swine flu symptoms arrived home Wednesday on a government-chartered jet, some complaining of ”humiliation and discrimination” by the Chinese.
Mexico criticized China’s quarantine of its citizens as discriminatory, and first lady Margarita Zavala was up before dawn to greet the 136 passengers at Mexico City’s international airport
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/health/05china.html
Earth Watch Institute_Scholarship opportunity available.
Every year, hundreds of talented high school and college students contribute their time, experience, and energy as Earthwatch volunteers. Student volunteers step beyond the classroom and become personally involved in field research. They work with leading scientists and gain first-hand experience in data collection techniques
http://www.earthwatch.org/aboutus/education/studentopp/
Conserving natural resources:
The following national parks and wildlife preserves were created as a direct result of information gathered by Earthwatch volunteers: Tram Chim National Park, Vietnam; Sandy Point National Wildlife Reserve, St. Croix; Ischigualasto Valley World Heritage Site, Argentina; Spanish River Provincial Park, Ontario; Playa Grande National Park, Costa Rica. Reserves were also set up and legislation passed for their protection in Australia, Canada, Hawaii, Fiji, Madagascar, the Philippines, Chile, and the Canary Islands, based on Earthwatch results.
The Dalai Lama’s Endorsement of Global Air Pollution Control :
We are honored to present here the Dalai Lama’s official letter of endorsement of the 350 ppm target. Among the growing list of other international figures supporting this target are Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Indian environmental leader Dr. Vandana Shiva, Canadian biologist and broadcaster Dr.David Suzuki, Dr.Hermann Scheer, chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy, and SheilaWatt-Cloutier, chairperson of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
http://www.ecobuddhism.org/buddhist-climate-project.php?id=1
http://www.350.org/
Disappointing News_May 18, 2009
‘Quốc hội ủng hộ chủ trương khai thác bô xít ở Tây Nguyên’
Văn phòng Quốc hội Trần Đình Đàn cho biết, Thường vụ Quốc hội đã giao cho các ủy ban có trách nhiệm thẩm tra chủ trương và quy hoạch khai thác bô xít tại Tây Nguyên.
“Tôi xin khẳng định, Quốc hội ủng hộ chủ trương lớn của Đảng, nhà nước khai thác bô xít ở Tây Nguyên nhằm phát triển kinh tế xã hội khu vực này. Còn vấn đề triển khai, tuyển lao động, vùng nào tiến hành triển khai thuộc quyền điều hành của Chính phủ”, ông Đàn nói.
Theo ông Đàn, cử tri rất quan tâm đến tác động môi trường của dự án và lo ngại làn sóng lao động nước ngoài tràn vào Việt Nam
“Ủy ban Kinh tế của Quốc hội đã tiến hành thẩm tra hiệu quả kinh tế của dự án. Lãnh đạo Ủy ban Khoa học Công nghệ Môi trường Quốc hội cũng đã trực tiếp thị sát tại Tây Nguyên và huy động nhiều nhà khoa học tham gia để đánh giá tác động môi trường của dự án”, ông Đàn nói.
Do you see : one setback with many new windows of opportunities.
Recession hitting remittances from Oversea Vietnamese :
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/wp-content/uploads/remittances.png
http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?tag=vietnam
Remittances sent to developing countries in 2008 from migrant workers overseas came to a massive $305bn – two and a half times greater than the (record) volume of global aid. But how are they weathering the global crisis? I’ve just been reading the World Bank’s latest (OK, end of March – I’m playing catchup as usual) Migration and Development Brief. Main findings:
A sharp decline of 5‐8 percent predicted for 2009 compared to 2008. This compares with double digit growth in previous years (see graph).
Some regional variation in both timing and severity: A slowdown in remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean began early in 2008 and deepened in the third quarter. In contrast, remittance flows to South Asia surged in 2008. In 2009, South Asia is expected to experience a sharp slow down. In fact, all regions are expected to see a decline in remittance flows in 2009. The worst hit region is Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with a 10% fall predicted in 2009. Overall, the two big groupings of low income and middle income countries both see falls of about 5%. South‐South remittances from Russia, South Africa, Malaysia and India are especially vulnerable
Chinese Laborers first came to Kenya for mining, then for poaching elephants.
Thousands of African elephants are killed every year to supply a market largely driven by Asian demand. Last year the first legal ivory auction in nine years was held and more than 100 tons of elephant tusks were sold exclusively to Chinese and Japanese buyers who fought to outbid each other in multi-million dollar sales.
The resurrection of such auctions and the increase in Chinese workers in Africa have sparked fears about the potential impact on a species that has only recently recovered from illegal poaching.
“The situation for elephants in the [Amboseli] area has become critical over the past year and more particularly over the past four months,” warned the report by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, run by veteran conservationist Dr. Cynthia Moss, who has been working in the 150-square-mile reserve in southern Kenya for 37 years.
Patrick Omondi, head of species conservation at Kenya Wildlife Service, said Kenya lost 98 elephants to poaching in 2008, double the number killed in 2007, but he said the news from Amboseli was particularly worrying. “This is the first time in a decade that we’ve seen poaching in Amboseli,” he said.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/kenya/090326/elephant-poaching-problem-kenya
** Tay Nguyen forest is our national treasure, a wild life reserve. The the mining of bauxite, illegal poaching of Vietnamese rare elephants will be inevitable.
We are witnessing the largest Exodus of Chinese workers to Africa :
Millions of Chinese workers have migrated to Africa, looking for jobs and other business opportunities.
Chinese government is actively encouraging them to do so. Landless and small farmers, as well as rural Chinese forced off their land and unable to find urban jobs in the emerging megacities are called on by the country’s Export-Import Bank to move to Africa to become farm owners and practise their agricultural skills.
Li Ruogu, head of the Chinese Export-Import Bank, explains the overseas migration plan, the logic of which is simple but powerful.
Chongqing is well experienced in agricultural mass production, while in Africa there is plenty of land but food production is unsatisfactory. There is huge room for co-operation on both sides. We have already supported several agricultural projects in Africa, all of which are generating very sound profits. Chongqing’s labour exports have just started, but they will take off once we convince the farmers to become landlords abroad. [...] the bank will give full support to the farmers in terms of capital investment, project development and product-selling channels.
Chongqing’s deputy mayor Zhou Mubing says the local authorities and business sector too will encourage farmers to go overseas.
http://news.mongabay.com/bioenergy/2007/12/landless-chinese-farmers-migrate-to.html
** Vietnam is the recipient destination of China’s policy of exporting unskilled and rural labors.
COMMUNIST China as a Model for Development being promoted in Africa, instead of DEMOCRACY.
The situation that has emerged in China, albeit economically prosperous, may not be the pathway that most would like to imagine for Africa. China may have tackled poverty, but what about inequality? You could trip over the number of examples of human rights violations in China, from incarcerated activists to the infamous “great firewall.”
What is happening in Africa right now clearly demonstrates a seemingly simple distinction that we may all sometimes forget to make; poverty and inequality are not one in the same. And, if poverty is addressed, will inequality then follow suit?
It sounds as if the Chinese products are cheap for African people more choice, and filling market gaps. However, there are worries about the safety of the extremely cheap Chinese goods. If an exporter can’t pass FDA inspections, it may still be able to slip its products into African markets. These toys are contaminated with lead paints, These electronics are of inferior quality.
http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/chinese_activity_in_africa_part_2_the_path_of_least_resistance1/
My most urgent call for your help.
We need to embark on a new viral campaign to attract young generations to raiser awareness about environmental pollution.
Please take a look at this simple video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=IXdTsPuatOc
** A group of Vietnamese media could sponsor a video open invitation:
1. Participants : Vietnamese student associations.
2. Activity : to produce a 5 minute video clip for youtube.
3. Audience : viral message, mother to mother, father to father, student to student etc…
4. Language : Vietnamese, for domestic Vietnamese population
5. Goal : a positive message about environmental pollution effects of human life.
6. Method : all video will be uploaded to youtube, and will be judged based on three categories : view count (after a period of time), rating (after a period of time), and overall performance (by a panel of media experts)
7. Sponsors are needed to establish awards.
8. First prize : $1,000 (one) . Second prize : $500 (three). Third prize : $250 (five)
9. Participants are encouraged to solicit as many viewers and ratings as possible.
10. An award ceremony should be help in Santa Ana at a restaurant.
Can you help organize this event ? Is this a good project ?
** YOUR HELP is urgently NEEDED **
We need to embark on a new viral campaign to attract young generations to raise awareness about environmental pollution.
Please take a look at this simple video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=IXdTsPuatOc
** A group of Vietnamese media could sponsor a video open invitation:
1. Participants : Vietnamese student associations.
2. Activity : to produce a 5 minute video clip for youtube.
3. Audience : viral message, mother to mother, father to father, student to student etc…
4. Language : Vietnamese, for domestic Vietnamese population
5. Goal : a positive message about environmental pollution effects on human life.
6. Method : all video will be uploaded to youtube, and will be judged based on three categories : view count (after a period of time), rating (after a period of time), and overall performance (by a panel of media experts)
7. Sponsors are needed to establish awards.
8. First prize : $1,000 (one) . Second prize : $500 (three). Third prize : $250 (five)
9. Participants are encouraged to solicit as many viewers and ratings as possible.
10. An award ceremony should be help in Santa Ana at a restaurant.
Is this a good project ?
Don’t despair over that turbulent past,
Have no fear of the new world yet to come.
It is your call to make,
It is your time to build ! ! !
Breaking out this chamber of darkness,
Brighten up future with a thousand points of light.
Looking for a possible inside connection ? Here it is :
ĐẠI BIỂU QUỐC HỘI : Trương Thị Mai
Họ và tên khai sinh: Trương Thị Mai
Ngày sinh: 23/01/1958
Quê quán: Xã Hiền Ninh, huyện Quảng Ninh, tỉnh Quảng Bình
Nơi cư trú (nơi ở hiện nay): P403, A1 Khu công vụ Hoàng Cầu, thành phố Hà Nội
Trình độ học vấn: Thạc sỹ
Nghề nghiệp, chức vụ (khi trúng cử): Ủy viên BCH Trung ương Đảng, Phó
Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban văn hóa, giáo dục, thanh niên, thiếu niên và nhi đồng của Quốc hội
Nghề nghiệp, chức vụ (hiện nay): Uỷ viên BCH TW Đảng, Uỷ viên UBTVQH, Chủ nhiệm UB Về các vấn đề xã hội của Quốc hội
Nơi làm việc: Ủy ban Về các vấn đề xã hội của Quốc hội, 35 Ngô Quyền, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
Please choose a wining strategy ?
* Most of the anti-bauxite movements in California are engaging in a strategy of power play, of party politics. It is a zero-sum game, one party wins what the other loses. Command structure is a top-down vertical pyramid. This political strategy is doomed to fail given how the game is set up.
* This anti-bauxite issue must be a GRASS ROOT political movement which must be built from bottom up. It is a political process where decision-making process is shifted to the movement’s lowest geographic level of organization. Each locality determines its own message. Its command structure is bottom-up vertical pyramid. Grassroot movements are the green shoots of participatory democracy.
* A example of using petition as a means of protest.
For power politics, the receivers of the petition are the target of the battle. Your opponents might have as much power to decide (much more power, in this case) than you.
For grassroot movements, the “petitioners” become the rivets and the beams of a much wider bridge, the participants become part of a bigger organic network.
* In this grassroot strategy, you WIN the war even when you LOSE all battles.
Quốc hội khóa XII :
1.ĐB Đặng Ngọc Tùng (TP.SAIGON) : băn khoăn về tình trạng lao động trong nước mất việc trong khi có thông tin cho biết nhiều trường hợp người nước ngoài không có chuyên môn, không có tay nghề đang làm việc tại VN.
2. ĐB Đặng Huyền Thái (TP.Hà Nội) : Chính phủ cần cung cấp đầy đủ thông tin về vấn đề này cho đại biểu Quốc hội. Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Quốc phòng và an ninh Lê Quang Bình cho rằng trong báo cáo của Chính phủ về bôxit gửi ĐB Quốc hội, cần đánh giá toàn diện, kỹ lưỡng những khía cạnh mà dư luận quan tâm như hiệu quả kinh tế, xử lý môi trường, bảo đảm quốc phòng an ninh…
3. ĐB. Dương Trung Quốc : ý kiến của các tầng lớp xã hội, trong đó có các nhà chuyên môn, cho thấy trong việc khai thác bôxit không chỉ có vấn đề tổng kinh phí các dự án mà còn liên quan đến nhiều vấn đề nhạy cảm khác do địa điểm đặt dự án. Ông Dương Trung Quốc khẳng định cùng với việc báo cáo vấn đề bôxit ra Quốc hội, đại biểu Quốc hội có thể thảo luận về vấn đề này trong chương trình thảo luận về kinh tế – xã hội, nếu giải trình của Chính phủ chưa thỏa mãn thì có thể thành lập bộ phận giám sát ngay từ đầu vì đây là chức năng của Quốc hội.
4. ĐB. Lương Phan Cừ (Đắc Nông) : nhiều thông tin khác nhau về bôxit theo hướng “mỗi người hiểu một kiểu” dẫn đến “nhiễu thông tin”, vì vậy ông chờ đợi báo cáo chính thức của Chính phủ về vấn đề này, cùng với những thông tin thực địa mà ông đã khảo sát tại Đắc Nông để có cái nhìn chính xác, toàn cảnh về chủ đề này.
5. Phó thủ tướng Hoàng Trung Hải: Không thể phát triển bằng mọi giá
6. Võ Nguyên Giáp : Tại cuộc hội thảo quan trọng này, tôi mong các nhà khoa học, các nhà quản lý, các nhà hoạt động xã hội hãy nêu cao trách nhiệm trước dân tộc thảo luận một cách khoa học, nghiêm túc, thẳng thắn để kiến nghị với Đảng và Nhà nước một chủ trương đúng đắn về vấn đề bôxit Tây nguyên mà tôi cho là không nên khai thác. Vì đứng về lợi ích toàn cục và sự phát triển bền vững lâu dài của đất nước, khai thác sẽ gây hậu quả cực kỳ nghiêm trọng về môi trường, về xã hội, về an ninh quốc phòng”.
7. Thạc sĩ Lê Quang Trung – Viện Nghiên cứu lâm nghiệp VN : lo ngại vì việc bố trí bãi chứa bùn đỏ ở một thung lũng không thể nào ngăn được nước mưa tràn vào. “Bùn đỏ không như xăng dầu chảy đi mà có thể hốt lại được, chỉ cần thoát ra ngoài kim loại nặng thấm vào nước ngầm hoặc theo sông đổ về hạ lưu là vô phương cứu chữa”
8. GS.TS Đặng Trung Thuận – chủ tịch Hội địa hóa VN – cho biết việc khai thác bôxit không thể tránh khỏi việc ngăn dòng, làm hồ ở thượng lưu các con sông để lấy nước, làm giảm hẳn lưu lượng nước tưới đổ về hạ lưu. Riêng nước hồ trong những năm đầu sẽ bị ô nhiễm nặng do sự phân hủy hữu cơ lòng hồ và có thể lan tỏa ảnh hưởng các khu vực hạ lưu. “Cần lưu ý rằng Đắc Nông là nơi bắt nguồn nhiều nhánh sông, suối đổ vào hệ thống sông Đồng Nai và sông Krông Knô nên dòng bùn đỏ từ các khai trường bôxit sẽ làm ô nhiễm các hệ thống sông này”
9. Trương Văn Tấn, chi cục trưởng Chi cục Bảo vệ môi trường miền Trung – Tây nguyên (Bộ Tài nguyên – môi trường) : dự án triển khai trong khu vực rất nhạy cảm về môi trường, kinh tế, có diện tích bị ảnh hưởng của dự án rộng gần 4.000km2 lại nằm ở thượng nguồn lưu vực sông Đồng Nai nên cần thiết đánh giá môi trường chiến lược
10. TS Nguyễn Thành Sơn tuy là người của TKV nhưng đã phản bác gần như hoàn toàn các dự án khai thác bôxit ở Tây nguyên :
- Đã là hội thảo thì phải có phản biện, trong đó có những ý kiến đúng cần phải nghiên cứu. Nhưng không phải vì thế mà anh cứ cực đoan lên, cứ vì môi trường, vì chuyện này chuyện khác mà không làm. Vấn đề chính là lợi ích lâu dài, toàn cục. Đắc Nông nếu không khai thác thì dưới tầng đất không thể tận dụng một cái gì nữa. Nếu cứ để 1.000 năm nữa thì trên đó cũng không thể mọc thành rừng, không thể trồng gì khác. Mà như thế là lãng phí tài nguyên của đất nước. Tôi không nghĩ là sai lầm, vì khai thác khoáng sản để phát triển kinh tế là việc nên làm. Với việc khai thác bôxit mỗi năm ngân sách có thêm khoảng 1.500 tỉ đồng.
** So many voices from Vietnam, please join them to change the future **
How can we join these people without being associated with them?
* Joining them here is an offensive strategy of breaking down the Hanoi regime’s core support .
* Joining them here means offensively seeking out more rapport from within the power structure.
* Joining them here an application of political triangulation of a grass root issue.
* Joining them here means re-building of our image, not just an unruly bunch of power-hungry protesters, but a group of Vietnamese fighting for Vietnamese.
* Joining them here means we EMBRACE these courageous individuals to OUR SIDE.
* It is time for us to choose hope over fear, and unity over discord.
* It is time for us to proclaim an end to the grandiose promises, the internal recriminations, and worn-out ideology that for far too long have strangled our politics.
* The question we should ask today is not whether WE JOIN them or THEY JOIN us, but whether all Vietnamese can JOIN together to work for a better Vietnam.
My dear fellow Vietnamese,
Now, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of you for being with me on this long and arduous task of examining all aspects of this bauxite mining in Highland Vietnam.
I hope the facts that I have gathered here will help you make up your mind on the issue.
Helping the helpless and the unemployed in remote villages, speaking out for the voiceless victims of mining pollutions in China and Vietnam.
It is YOU who, I hope, will take on the most crucial role in the current national debate, by your talent of personal persuasion to change the balance of power back to the PEOPLE.
For so long, we have been entrapped in the abyss of internal recrimination, and vicious rhetorics.
Now, we have to; and YES WE CAN, we can change the future with a thousand points of light.
A new generation of intelligent and capable young men/women.
Thank you,
Country First
Will you join me on the next journey ?
The inhuman actions of the Viet communists in the past created a big big distrust from their victims. It might take a long time for these bad memories to be faded away before the refugee Viets can join the communist associated Viets for a common cause. In any event, Country First’s patriotism is highly admired and appreciated.
Mr. Tien Nguyen,
The past month of discussion has been indeed an incredible journey for me.
It is not about politics, but about knowing each one of you, chatting with you that I will treasure.
It is not about ideology, but about flesh and blood, each one of you, your concerns and wisdom that I have learned.
I feel our hearts yearning for a better future for our motherland, justice for our people, and love for our land.
* We are not just another group of yellow Vietnamese, or red Vietnamese, but all the people of Vietnam, from the remote highland of Tay nguyen, to the remote communities in America, Europe, and all four corners of the globe.
* We are not just another group of victims of the past war, but all Vietnamese of past, present and future, yearning for the better Vietnam.
* We are not just another group demanding rewrite of the past, but all Vietnamese who want a future with freedom and democracy.
Did you feel the earthquake from Vietnam, the National Assembly ?
Did you hear the voices from dissent from so many legislators ?
Did you see the third letter of protest from Vo Nguyen Giap ?
http://www.bauxitevietnam.info/
For grassroot movements :
* Any expression of concerns become the rivets and the beams of a much wider bridge, “participants” become part of a bigger organic network.
* The bridge of dissent is being built by thousands of people in Vietnam.
* The real awakening of the Vietnamese people, all facts about the bauxite project.
* The monopoly of the regime’s propaganda is finally cracking down.
Chủ nhiệm Ủy ban Quốc phòng và An ninh của QH Lê Quang Bình:
* Chính phủ chỉ là một chiều thông tin
* Bô-xít Tây Nguyên là vấn đề quốc gia trọng đại, không thể phát biểu lơ mơ, thiếu cơ sở.
Ủy viên Hội đồng Dân tộc, Phó Trưởng đoàn ĐBQH tỉnh Kiên Giang Danh Út:
* Đại biểu phải có tiếng nói ở hội trường.
* Tôi đã nhiều lần đi Tây Nguyên, vào thời tiết mưa gió, nên tôi biết rõ là trong điều kiện thời tiết thay đổi, các hồ chứa bùn đỏ có thể sẽ bị tràn, gây hậu quả.
* Nếu làm không cẩn thận thì với địa hình đồi núi cao của Tây Nguyên, chất thải sẽ tràn về đồng bằng sông Cửu Long và thậm chí cả Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Hai dự án thí điểm cần phải được làm cẩn thận, kỹ lưỡng, tránh sơ suất.
Đại biểu Nguyễn Anh Liên:
* Việc Chính phủ cung cấp đầy đủ thông tin cho Quốc hội để đại biểu có thể bàn luận rộng rãi là rất cần thiết. Tôi cũng đã tìm hiểu thông tin về khai thác bô-xít từ rất lâu, thông qua báo chí, đọc ý kiến của các nhà khoa học.