Vietnam's transport ministry has agreed to give VND1.3 billion (US$63,260) in aid to farmers whose rice plants failed to blossom last year due to high-voltage street lights from a highway in the southern province of Long An.
The Management Board of My Thuan Project, which manages the Ho Chi Minh City Trung Luong Highway, will cooperate with Ben Luc Distric's compensation board to pay affected farmers next week, Do Ngoc Dung, deputy director of the management board said Friday.
Last December, the farmers who planted rice along the highway demanded compensation after several scientists informed the media that their rice couldn't blossom in November as expected because they were exposed to high-voltage light from the streets during the night.
The provincial agriculture department estimates that the street lights arrested growth on 63 hectares of rice planted by some 170 farmers.