Pham Quang Tu, director of the Office of Social Evaluation and Consultancy (OSEC), on May 9 said that it is time to evaluate the bauxite project in the Central Highlands instead of waiting for Nhan Co alumina plant to do so.
The Central Highlands bauxite project includes Tan Rai alumina plant in Lam Dong Province and the incomplete Nhan Co alumina plant in Dak Nong Province.
Tu was speaking at a seminar hosted by Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the status quo and proposals for the Central Highlands bauxite project. OSEC is a unit of VUSTA.
The public and scientists have recently expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the bauxite project and had asked to stop construction of the Nhan Co alumina refinery plant.
Nguyen Manh Quan, head of the Heavy Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said such concerns were necessary but proposals to scrap the project were impractical. He expressed his firm belief in the effectiveness of the Tan Rai and Nhan Co alumina plants.
Sharing the same view, Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) said that the aluminum industry will recover from the current economic woes, and also believed in the economic and comprehensive socio-economic efficiency of the bauxite project in the long term.
Several experts at the seminar said that traffic infrastructure has not been synchronously developed to promote effectiveness of the project.
Quan said that the Government has instructed the launch of a pilot project to build Tan Rai and Nhan Co Plants. By 2020, if these two plants operate effectively and the State budget allows for construction of a railway line there, other larger bauxite projects will find investors.
He said that the railway plays a very meaningful role in transport of bauxite. However, the Government is unable to arrange capital for its construction at present.
Pham Quang Tu, director of the Office of Social Evaluation and Consultancy (OSEC), said that evaluation of the project should be done so as to decide whether to halt or continue with the project.
He proposed establishing a group of experts for the purpose and organizing trips for scientists to do field research. Afterwards, they can present their survey reports at a science seminar before officially giving a final proposal to authorized organs about the project.
The evaluation process will require 3-6 months and will be complete by year end at the latest.
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