Bac Ninh: Preventing illegal land exploitation.

BAC NINH - Recently, in Bac Ninh province, some organizations and individuals have been disregarding the law and illegally exploiting land for leveling purposes to gain illicit profits. Authorities and government agencies at all levels have been implementing decisive measures to prevent and deter such activities.

Báo Bắc Ninh•21/11/2025

The situation regarding illegal land exploitation is becoming increasingly complex.

Recently, the Department of Criminal Investigation of Corruption, Economic Crimes , and Smuggling (Provincial Police) inspected the Cay Va area, Ho Vau hamlet, Lang Giang commune, where Trung Hieu Limited Liability Company was licensed to operate. They discovered that the company had violated regulations in its land mining activities. The company was licensed to mine land in an area of 5 hectares with a mineral reserve of 519,286 m³ ^. The mining capacity was 120,000 m³ ^/ year for a period of 5 years, starting from the date of licensing.

Authorities inspect the land excavation site in Ho Vau village, Lang Giang commune.

However, during operation, Mr. Nguyen Van Tham, from Toan My village, Lang Giang commune, who was the Director of the company, instructed employees to mine outside the permitted area, exceeding the permitted depth and volume. The company mined in violation of the permit, extracting over 200,000 m³ of mineral resources ^, causing damages exceeding 5 billion VND. On October 31, 2025, the Provincial Police Investigation Agency initiated a criminal case, indicted and temporarily detained Nguyen Van Tham for violating regulations on resource exploitation, and is continuing to investigate and expand the case as prescribed.

Similarly, in June and October of this year, the Provincial Police initiated legal proceedings and temporarily detained two suspects related to violations of regulations on land resource exploitation. These were Phung Ngoc Phuong, from Lang Giang commune, the Director and legal representative of Tien Phuong Bac One-Member Limited Liability Company, and Nguyen Van Thang, from Tan Dinh commune. Initial investigations determined that from 2020 to 2024, suspect Phung Ngoc Phuong directly directed and carried out the illegal exploitation of over 800,000 m³ ^of fill soil, valued at over 23 billion VND. The case is currently under further investigation and expansion by the Provincial Police's Security Investigation Agency.

According to preliminary statistics from the authorities, since the beginning of the year, the province has detected and imposed administrative penalties on approximately 15 organizations and individuals for violating regulations on illegal land leveling and excavation, with a total fine and recovery of illegal profits amounting to billions of VND for the state budget. These violations are concentrated in the communes of Luc Son, My Thai, Lang Giang, Van Ha, and Nenh ward… The main violations include: illegal and unauthorized land excavation, failure to periodically report excavated reserves…

Field surveys in areas of illegal and unauthorized mining have revealed that large areas of hills and gardens have been leveled, creating pits and depressions. The consequences include the loss of land resources, revenue losses, landscape destruction, and environmental pollution. Furthermore, in some cases, illegal soil extraction is carried out without proper terracing, posing a risk of landslides and endangering the lives of residents. Recently, to evade authorities, these individuals often take advantage of early mornings or late nights to illegally excavate soil using machinery. This activity is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to manage due to the significant profits involved; for every cubic meter of illegally ^extracted soil, the perpetrators profit between 60,000 and 90,000 VND, while avoiding resource taxes, environmental protection fees, and mining license fees.

Establish a rapid response team and a 24/7 hotline.

According to the law, before excavating land for leveling purposes in construction projects, organizations and individuals must complete the necessary documentation to obtain a permit from the competent authority. Based on the permitted volume of soil, before commencing operations, businesses and individuals must pay resource tax, environmental protection fees, and mineral exploitation rights fees to the state budget. Despite these regulations, some individuals have brazenly violated them in the past.

An excavator used for illegal land excavation is being held in Luc Son commune.

In response to this situation, in September, the Provincial People's Committee issued a document requesting departments, agencies, and localities to strengthen inspections, checks, and handling of violations in the field of geology and minerals. Accordingly, it requested the People's Committees of communes and wards to strengthen the dissemination of laws on this field to officials, Party members, businesses, and the people; and to improve mineral management. At the same time, it directed specialized departments to closely monitor and inspect, promptly detecting and preventing violations. To date, all communes and wards have established rapid response teams to manage this activity.

According to Mr. Bui Quang Phat, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, following the province's directive, the Department has established a rapid response task force in the field of geology and minerals. The task force includes officials from the Department, the Provincial Police, the Department of Justice, and the Provincial Tax Authority. The rapid response task force is responsible for inspecting and handling issues related to geology and minerals within the province, and proposing measures to improve the effectiveness of state management in this field. It also receives information and suggestions from citizens and organizations regarding violations, and then advises competent authorities to direct relevant units to verify and handle them promptly. For cases where inspection reveals signs of violations or potential criminal prosecution, the task force unanimously recommends that the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment transfer the files to the competent authority. It is understood that, from now until the end of the year, based on the actual situation, the Task Force will review and develop a plan to inspect mineral mining activities at a number of licensed units.

In addition, the Provincial Inspectorate will lead and coordinate inspections and audits of the responsibilities of agencies and heads of agencies and localities regarding the management and operation of mineral resources; proactively report and propose to competent authorities to consider and handle organizations and individuals engaging in negative behavior, corruption, protection rackets, and cover-ups related to mineral resource management and exploitation. To ensure deterrence, police forces at all levels will strengthen patrols, detect and strictly handle violations, and avoid setting bad precedents. After catching organizations and individuals in the act of violating mineral resource exploitation regulations, the police will not only impose penalties but also consider completing the case file to initiate criminal proceedings and prosecute the suspects when there is sufficient evidence.

In addition to the above measures, in early November, the Provincial People's Committee issued regulations on coordination in state management of mineral resources. The coordination covers all aspects, from management and planning to adjusting mineral resource plans and appraising investment approval dossiers. Simultaneously, it strengthens the management of unexploited mineral resources. Each commune establishes a hotline and deploys personnel on duty 24/7 to receive and handle information on violations.

Minh Linh

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/bac-ninh-ngan-chan-nan-khai-thac-dat-trai-phep-postid431561.bbg