Fate of Lee & Man pulp mill project undecided The Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang has remained undecided over the fate of a controversial pulp mill of Vietnam Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd, said Hau Giang vice chairman Nguyen Van Tuan.   Tuan told the Daily that the province has not made any proposal regarding the facility in Chau Thanh District. The company’s project in the province has three components – a paper manufacturing plant which was put into operation early this year, a pulp mill and supporting facilities such as a seaport, a power plant and a waste treatment plant. The paper factory with an annual capacity of 420,000 ton has become a source of frustration in local communities as it has emitted dust, unpleasant odor and noise. The investor of the project has taken measures to deal with this problem. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed the central Government suspend the pulp mill with an annual capacity of 330,000 tons as it is a potential threat to the environment given its use of a lot of chemicals in the production process. The investor originally planned to start work on the US$348.7 million pulp mill in October 2013 and complete it in late 2015. However, it asked the province in mid-2016 to reschedule the start date of construction to May 2017 and the facility would be up and running in August 2018 but this mill has yet to get rolling. Earlier this year, Vietnam Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd’s pledged capital was US$1.2 billion but the figure was later lowered to US$628.7 million. SGT