Contaminated sea and positive memories
N 16°02'55.0'' E 108°14'54.2''
Date:
27.01.2017 until 28.01.2017
Day: 577 -578
Country:
Vietnam
Province:
Quảng Nam
Location:
Da Nang
Latitude N:
16°02’55.0”
Longitude E:
108°14’54.2”
Total kilometers:
21,629 km
Total altitude meters:
59.238 m
Sunrise:
06:18 am – 06:17 am
Sunset:
5:41 pm
Temperature day max:
25°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
“We’re the cyclists with the dog. Can you remember us?” Tanja asks a woman on the other end of the phone that morning. “But yes. I’ll never forget the big, beautiful white dog.” “We have a small problem,” says Tanja and explains to the receptionist called Duyen that we forgot my head torch in the last accommodation. “No problem Tanja. I’ll go to the guesthouse straight away during my lunch break and ask for your lamp. If I get it, I’ll send it to Da Nang on the next bus this afternoon. Then the lamp should be with you this evening,” we are amazed by the young woman’s helpful reply. “That’s really great. We’ll pay the transportation costs, of course. If you give me your bank details, we can transfer the money to you.” “Ha, ha, you don’t have to pay that. The transportation costs are low and I’m happy to help you.” “Unbelievable. There are great people in this world. If this works and we actually get the lamp back, you’ll be my hero,” I say to Tanja with a laugh.
After breakfast we go to the beach, which is littered with garbage, to give Ajaci a run. “Strange, yesterday it looked like paradise here and today it looks like a garbage tip,” wonders Tanja. “Could be because of Tetfest. Hardly anyone works on these days, so the beach cleaning staff are probably off,” I suspect.
While Tanja takes our dog for a walk, I do my daily yoga session. Yogym is a combination of special back exercises and yoga developed by me. This is how I keep fit and try to get the painful consequences of my acromioclavicular joint injury back under control. Tanja and Ajaci return 40 minutes later. “You won’t believe what happened to us?” “Nothing bad, I hope?” “You’re not allowed to walk dogs along the beach up there. Two security guards rudely ordered me to leave the shore immediately.” “Really? I can’t believe it. We’re on one of the most polluted beaches in the world and dogs are banned so that you don’t step in dog poo. What an irony,” I say, shaking my head.
The sun rises higher and has lost its warm yellow-red light. We sit down under a palm tree in the sand and look out to sea. Only a few tourists swim in the cool waters at this time of year. “I don’t think they know that the water is so polluted,” I say thoughtfully. A Chinese man plays with his two young sons. They splash each other with water, scream and laugh. I would love to go and warn the man. A little further out, a few Europeans and Vietnamese are surfing on their boards through the crashing waves. Behind it, a few fishing boats bob up and down. “I’m sure that the fish they catch there ends up in one or two restaurants here,” says Tanja. “Of course it ends up there. People have to make a living, so they sell their catch. Restaurants have to survive too. It hardly matters if one or two guests die of cancer in a few years’ time,” I reply thoughtfully.
Although I was dog-tired last night after a long and exhausting day of cycling, I did some research online about the environmental disaster that is said to have happened here eight months ago. Our fears that we had landed on one of the most polluted stretches of coastline in the world unfortunately came true. According to reports, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, FORMOSA PLASTICS GROUP (FPG), with more than 106 thousand employees and an annual turnover of USD 78 billion, has commissioned a steelworks in the Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh and, during the test phase, discharged highly toxic untreated wastewater via a 2 km long pipe system into 17 m deep seawater. This triggered the most terrible environmental disaster since the Vietnam War, in which hundreds of thousands of deep-sea and deep-water fish died and washed up dead on the beaches of the central Vietnamese provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Da Nang. According to my calculations, this is a distance of just under 500 coastal kilometers. The livelihoods of tens of thousands of Vietnamese were and are under massive threat. Scientists from all over the world assume that the marine ecosystem will not recover from this blow for another 50 years.
Still sitting on the sand, we stare silently at the beautiful-looking China Sea. The wind blows music over to us from a deserted beach bar. Behind us, some unfinished hotel buildings stretch their ugly skeletons into today’s blue sky. “Will they not be finished because of the disaster?” asks Tanja, pointing at the grayish structures. “That could be the case. I think that many local tourists stay away. We were also warned by the Vietnamese not to go to this coastal strip and only ended up here because we had forgotten the names of the towns.” “You said that the government is in cahoots with this criminal group?” “Yes, first they came to the defense of this FORMOSA PLASTICS GROUP, whose owners and managers were pilloried in 2009 by the Foundation for Ethics & Economics for the greatest environmental pollution on our Mother Earth by receiving the Black Planet Award. During a press conference, the Deputy Minister of Resources and Environment, Mr. Vo Tuan Nhan, absolved the steel company of any responsibility. And claimed that the fish deaths were caused by an algal bloom and the discharge of toxic chemicals by local residents.” “I can’t believe it. They really wanted to pass the buck to ordinary people? Man, that makes you lose faith in humanity.” “In a way, yes. Especially when you listen to Mr. Chou Chun Fan, the senior manager of the FORMOSA PLASTICS GROUP, when he apologized for the disaster but said that it was quite normal for collateral damage to occur and backed up his statement with the words: “Do you want fish or do you want a steel mill?” “What? I don’t believe that.” “Yes, yes, he obviously said that. The man was then sacked. But imagine what kind of nonsense managers like that say. In the end, this provocation led to mass demonstrations throughout Vietnam.” “Good, very good.” “Well, you name it. The government used extreme brutality against the demonstrators. Many were imprisoned and even tortured. None of the 500 million dollars that FORMOSA promised to those affected has reached the suffering population to this day. I think that some of the money will seep into some corrupt pockets and those responsible will never be punished for their crime.”
Slowly realizing the gravity of the man-made catastrophe, we remain sitting under the palm tree for a long time. Then we turn our backs on the beach and walk with Ajaci to our hotel.
Duyen calls us in the evening. “Your headlamp was actually still in the guesthouse. I left it with a bus company that travels to Da Nang every day. The lamp will arrive with you tonight.” “Duyen, that’s fantastic. You make me really happy. I never thought I’d get my precious lupine back. We would love to show our gratitude to you. Would you like to give us your bank details?” “Denis, as I said, it makes me happy to be able to help you and give you a little birthday present.” “Thank you, thank you very much. Although we hardly know each other, we will never forget you and will keep you in our hearts as a positive memory.”
In the evening, we sit down again in one of the many restaurants. Knowing that eating fish has a guaranteed effect on our health, I only eat vegetarian food, just like Tanja. “Look, the European next to us has ordered a plate of fish.” “Yes, he won’t have noticed anything about the big fish kill,” Tanja ponders. “Should I warn him?” I think aloud. “It’ll spoil his food.” “Better to spoil his food than his health,” I reply, giving myself a jolt and addressing the man about the environmental disaster. “Oh, you know. I work here. You have to eat something.” “True, but the fish is most likely contaminated in the long term,” I reply. “What the hell, we have to die of something anyway.” “Well, bon appétit then,” I reply, stunned by the ignorance and stupidity…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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