As many as 24 people are reported to have been arrested by police in the Dak Song district of southern Vietnam, about 250km north-east of Ho Chi Minh City, following protests at a wind farm construction site.
According to local press reports, the arrests were made on 25 February after a confrontation between nearly 100 protesters and the security team at the 300MW 膼岷痥 N鈥橠rung 1, 2 & 3 wind farm, currently under construction.
Colonel Nguyen Duc Thuy, police chief of Dak Song district, Dak Nong, ordered his police officers to intervene to stop the protestors from attacking security guards who were protecting the construction project, Vietnamese news outlet Tuổi Trẻ reported.
Installation of the 66th turbine at the wind farm is reported to have started on 23 February, drawing protests from local residents and attracting a large group of protestors from neighbouring areas, who arrived on site in a convoy of 14 cars at around 5pm.
Following a street fight involving rocks and knives, two security guards are reported to have been injured. Police arrested 24 suspects and investigations are continuing, the website reports.
Project developer Dak N'Drung Dak Nong Energy Company is said to have invested more than VND 10 trillion ($438 million) in the project, which is being developed in three phases.
Public order has been a problem since construction started in April 2021, with press reports outlining local residents’ dissatisfaction with information about the project and compensation arrangements.
The first 150MW of the project was scheduled to be brought online by the 31 October 2021 deadline that would have allowed it to enjoy a favourable feed-in tariff. Đắk N’Drung, however, does not feature in Vietnam Electricity’s (EVN’s) official list of projects that were authorised for commercial operation by that date.
.png)
.png)
