>> Vietnam’s biggest paper plant may be scrapped
Lee & Man Paper Manufacturer Ltd. has just promised to commission its long-delayed paper plant project in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang by 2013, a move seen as a response to a recent ultimatum from authorities.
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| The ground-breaking ceremony of the plant (Photo: Vneconomy) |
Cheng Ching Kay, director of Lee & Man Vietnam Co., has given a written answer with the above suggestion to authorities of Hau Giang Province following an ultimatum sent to the Hong Kong-based investor asking it to set a final deadline to restart the project or face the axe.
In the document sent to the province, the investor said it would finish basic construction and assembly of equipment and machinery for the plant in May 2013 and would go into operation in August 2013, said a provincial official.
In the document, Lee & Man also answered seven questions relating to the project, including the time for restarting construction and completion, progress schedule, and labor issues which the province had asked in the ultimatum in mid-April.
The investor said that it had fitted up the roof frame warehouse of the plant’s block C late last year and has finished some 70% of the foundation for the warehouse. It has also finished some 70% of site clearance, leveling the ground and building the fence of the plant.
Lee & Man reported that it is preparing to invite tenders for other construction works of the project.
The company is making formalities for adjustment of the project, and said would make a report on details of the project on May 31 this year or sooner.
In a document sent to Lee Man Chun, CEO of Lee & Man in the middle of this month, the provincial government said that if there was no response from the investor as of April 25, 2011, the province would revoke its investment certificate.
Lee & Man, one of the world’s premier paper manufacturers, obtained an investment license in 2007 and broke ground for a paper mill in Hau Giang, which once in place after 16 months of construction would help feed the local hungry paper industry.
The Hong Kong-invested project has a designed capacity of one million tons of paper annually. The paper project is part of the investor’s investment plan, which includes a pulp factory with annual output of 1.5 million tons a year.
The investor said then that the two projects would also help increase forest coverage in the Mekong Delta, as it would develop material areas covering 120,000 hectares to feed its pulp and paper mills.
In the initial period, the investor also said it would import materials for the factories in Hau Giang’s Chau Thanh District.
The investor earlier said it would pour USD1.2 billion into these projects, and would develop the complex in three phases. In the initial period, the investor would spend USD280 million on the paper plant and USD348 million on the pulp mill, which would have respective output of 420,000 tonnes and 330,000 tonnes.
But the project construction has come to a dead halt due to the global financial crisis.
According to provincial authorities, Lee & Man late last year announced it had recovered from the crisis and would resume construction in 2011, and asked the province to grant a land use rights certificate to the firm.
However, the investor has done nothing to push the project ahead so far even though its requirement was satisfied late last year.
Previously, the project encountered strong opposition of experts due to environmental concerns. They worried it may put the country\'s key fish production region at risk and adversely impact on the livelihood of the people.
