More than 100 residents in a commune in Ninh Thuan Province  surrounded the Song Pha 1 Hydropower Plant on Wednesday, demanding compensation for damage caused by the plant. The residents requested that Ha Song Pha Hydropower Joint Stock Company, the plant’s investor, compensate them for damage they have suffered during blasts made by the plant to break rocks from September 2011 and October 2013, when the plant was being constructed. The blasts, caused by explosives, damaged the foundations and walls of hundreds of houses in Lam Son Commune, Ninh Son District, where the plant is located. The plant was put into operation in November 2013, but its investor failed to calculate the actual damage it caused to locals to form a basis for compensation. Nguyen Hanh, director of the company, told Tuoi Tre that he and representatives of local authorities and the plant’s construction unit have visited each affected household to make measurements and calculations of the actual damage sustained. “We have completed surveys at 33 households, of which 22 have agreed to the compensation rate. We have promised that we will invite the 22 families to come to the commune People’s Committee to receive compensation within five days,” Hanh said. However, he added, many people did not believe this to be true, so they flocked to the plant to demand direct compensation. Ha Ra Bich, chairman of the commune People’s Committee, said the company has promised to pay damages many times but has always failed to do so. Therefore, locals no longer believe the company’s promises. Bich said he has mobilized forces from concerned agencies to visit the plant to persuade the locals to stop their assault. Meanwhile, Hanh said he has asked authorities to allow the company to pay compensation directly to affected families at their homes. “From now on, we will bring money along with us and we will pay compensation at once to those families that agree to our compensation rates. For those who have yet to agree with the rates, negotiations will be continued,” Hanh said. “We will try to pay damages to all the households affected before Tet (lunar New Year), he added.