US grant for cleaning up Agent Orange site a pittance: expert

ThanhNien - A US donation of US$400,000 for a $1 million study into cleaning up a chemical dump in Da Nang is welcome but inadequate, general secretary of the UK-Vietnam Friendship Association, Len Aldis, said.

“It is a very small step – and long overdue – on the long road to the eradication of the legacy left by the use of millions of liters of Agent Orange and other chemicals used and sprayed by the US,” he said.

In a letter to the Vietnam News Agency’s bureau in London, he said: “Today in Vietnam there are over three million living victims including new-born babies, suffering from illness, many with severe disabilities caused by Agent Orange.”

“Of what benefit to them will be the $400,000 or $1 million?” he asked.