The administration of the north-central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh was uninformed of any plan for the scheduled inauguration of a steelmaking plant operated by Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics in the provincial economic zone, a top official said Thursday.

According to Taipei Times, a Formosa Plastics executive confirmed that the launch of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd. steel complex in the Vung Ang Economic Zone “has been postponed … [with] no new schedule [having] been set.”

The Vietnam steel mill was developed by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp, a Formosa Plastics subsidiary. The facility “would not become operational on Saturday next week [June 25] as scheduled,” the Taiwanese newspaper quoted Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp vice president Chang Fu-ning as saying.

Some international media outlets have alleged that the postponement was a response to pressure from the local government as a result of the mass fish deaths that occurred in four central Vietnamese provinces, including Ha Tinh.

However, the Ha Tinh administration said Formosa has left them in the dark about the steel plant’s opening plan.

“We received no report from Formosa on the issue,” the province’s chairman Dang Quoc Khanh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper later on Thursday.

The provincial deputy chairman, Duong Tat Thang, said the developer had previously announced they would start the steel mill’s furnace, a device used for high-temperature heating, and put the facility into operation sometime in June.

“Right now it is only their plan and we have not received any update on whether the scheduled opening will be postponed or not,” Thang added.

Ho Si Quoc, a media representative for Formosa’s Vietnamese project, declined to comment, saying he would have to consult his superiors for the correct information.

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