Cable car plan for cave kingdom a stark reminder of Vietnam’s development mania

12:00 | 29/08/2017

'There are serious questions about who benefits - the company which operates the cable car or the local community.'

En Cave, a feeder to the world's largest cave Son Doong, stretches 1,645 meters into the mountain and has been named

one of the most captivating caves on earth by National Geographic. Photo courtesy of Oxalis Adventure

Plans for another cable car in Vietnam’s UNESCO-listed Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park have raised more questions than answers in a country where economic interests all too often eclipse limited environmental safeguards.

The most troubling question is, according to experts, whether the masses stand to benefit from a project that is being promoted in the name of economic development.

Authorities in the central province of Quang Binh proposed the cable car system across Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which UNESCO recognized as a global heritage site in 2003, at a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Friday.

Phuc said that although the idea has raised widespread eyebrows, he and government agencies “agree in principle” with the plan. He said the project must “not interfere with the heritage site nor be overexploited”, asking the culture and tourism ministry to assess the project's possible impacts and consult UNESCO on the matter.

The cable car system is set to run 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) from a section of the Ho Chi Minh Highway to En (Swallow) Cave, which was catapulted into global fame when it was aired live on U.S. talk show Good Morning America in May 2015.

En Cave, a feeder to the world's largest cave Son Doong, stretches 1,645 meters into the mountain and has been named one of the most captivating caves on earth by National Geographic. It is also believed to be the world’s third largest cave, according to CNN.

Phong Nha – Ke Bang is home to over 300 caves and grottoes that date back some 400 million years. Around 30 caves are now open to visitors, which has created a tourism boom and lifted the poor, war-torn province.

Supporters of the cable car say it will make it easier for tourists to explore the cave, giving local tourism a much-needed boost that would increase revenues and create jobs. They also say it affords opportunities for the elderly and disabled, and not just able-bodied people, to visit more remote beauty spots.

But those in the opposing camp say that the proposal's much-touted benefits could pale in comparison to its possible drawbacks.

“The construction of large cable car base stations, towers, café-souvenir shops and parking lots will destroy the view,” said Tim Doling, a British author who has studied Vietnam’s history and tourism extensively. “The noise and disturbance associated with a heavy throughput of tourists can cause permanent damage to the natural landscape, wildlife and ecology.”

More importantly, “there are also serious questions to be answered about who ultimately benefits - the company which built and operates the cable car or the local community,” Doling said.

In Vietnam, the idea of building a huge infrastructure project designed to draw as many visitors as possible to a carefully protected ecological wonder has not gone down well with conservationists.

“Over the past 20 years, Vietnam’s tourism sector seems to have been led by a simple mantra – ‘big is beautiful’. But it rarely is,” said Mark Bowyer, a tourism expert in Vietnam who runs the website rustycompass.com. “Huge investments have been the prize most provinces have sought. Most other priorities have been neglected.”

In a country where local leaders are judged chiefly by how much their cities have grown, regardless of whether it is sustainable, local media have reported story after story in which cities and provinces often compete with each other by building airports, seaports or golf courses. This leads to a glut of infrastructure projects that only help to boost local gross domestic product thanks to construction, infrastructure, money flowing through banks and new employment in the short term.

Instead of focusing on projects that add value in the long term, local authorities are fixated on boosting GDP figures, analysts say. As a result, they ignore the environment and long-term planning.

“But worst of all is the systematic destruction of the country’s unique natural sites, the very reasons many foreigners visit the country, in the name of modernization and economic development,” Doling said.

“A slew of natural wonders are constantly destroyed or threatened across the country where local leaders are too preoccupied with short- sighted economic performance.”

e.vnexpress