Communes in Southeast Asia's largest iron mining region want special mechanisms after merger

A corner of Thach Khe iron mine project – Photo: LE MINH

Thach Khe iron mine located in the old Thach Ha district, with ore reserves of over 544 million tons, is considered the largest iron mine in Southeast Asia, accounting for half of the country's iron ore reserves.

The Thach Khe iron ore mining and processing investment project is invested by Thach Khe Iron Joint Stock Company (TIC) under the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV). In September 2009, TIC officially started the project by conducting technology testing and stripping the topsoil.

However, the process of stripping the topsoil has shown shortcomings in technical design, mining technology and faced financial difficulties. By November 2011, the project had to be temporarily suspended to re-evaluate the technical design and restructure shareholders.

For more than 13 years, the project has been suspended, significantly affecting the lives of people in five communes in the iron mining area, including Thach Khe, Thach Hai, Dinh Ban, Thach Tri and Thach Lac communes.

Mr. Tran Van Hoi (53 years old, residing in Thanh Lam village, Thach Khe commune), said that since the iron mining project, the localities near the mine have been included in the planning. Therefore, there are no investment projects, leading to many difficulties in people's lives.

“From January 1, 2025, Thach Khe commune and 4 neighboring communes of the iron mine will be merged into Ha Tinh city, so we really want to stop the project completely to attract investment projects, helping localities have more resources to develop the economy ” – Mr. Hoi said.

Mr. Phan Xuan Mau - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Khe commune - said that the locality is located in the iron mine planning area, so since the project was launched, roads, infrastructure, and government headquarters have been degraded and have not been invested in or repaired, greatly affecting the locality's development.

Because of planning issues, land cannot be sold, affecting the commune's budget revenue. People's spiritual life is not stable enough to develop the economy and society.

“The government and people want to stop the iron mine project to attract investment projects and develop the economy. Furthermore, after the communes in the iron mine area are merged into the new administrative unit, our wish is that Ha Tinh City will invest in the east where there are abundant resources such as rivers and seas to develop tourism ,” Mr. Mau shared.

Mr. Pham Cong Tung - Chairman of Dinh Ban Commune People's Committee - Photo: LE MINH

Hope to have a special mechanism

Mr. Pham Cong Tung - Chairman of Dinh Ban Commune People's Committee - said that among the communes affected by the Thach Khe iron mining project, Dinh Ban commune is the most difficult. This locality has 90 poor households, 104 near-poor households, and the people's lives in general are still very difficult.

Due to the long-standing suspension of the Thach Khe iron mine planning, the traffic infrastructure has deteriorated, schools have deteriorated, and the committee hall is narrow but has not been invested in upgrading or repairing.

“For example, the locality has up to 400 party members, but when there is an event, they have to gather in a hall that can only accommodate 150 people. This hall was also built in 2003, so it has degraded,” said Mr. Tung.

It is worth mentioning that Dinh Ban commune currently does not have any irrigation works to serve irrigation and agricultural production. Therefore, local rice farmers can only produce one crop per year thanks to rainwater, so the productivity is not high.

“Like other localities near the iron mine, we hope to soon end mining so that the higher authorities have a basis for investment. In case the Thach Khe iron mine project has not yet had a final decision, there needs to be a specific mechanism for the communes to have the motivation to develop and attract investment projects,” said Mr. Tung.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cac-xa-vung-mo-sat-lon-nhat-dong-nam-a-muon-co-che-dac-thu-sau-sap-nhap-20250106144107286.htm