Fighting against 'gold thieves' is like throwing salt into the sea

In June 2016, while illegally mining gold in the Nuoc cave area (in Kit village, Lung Cao commune, Ba Thuoc district), in the special-use forest of Pu Luong Nature Reserve, 3 gold miners suffocated and died underground. At that time, the Nuoc cave area had many camps, water tanks, machinery, and tools brought in by illegal gold miners to exploit national resources, affecting the special-use forest.

After the above incident, gold mining was quiet for a while, but from 2020 onwards, "gold thieves" continued to appear, building shacks and digging tunnels to exploit in the special-use forest area of Pu Luong Nature Reserve, in Ba Thuoc district.

Most recently, on June 5, local authorities and forest rangers discovered a newly formed illegal gold mining site in the Muong Mu forest area (in section 3, sub-area 53 (administrative boundary of Tan Phuc village, Phu Le commune, Quan Hoa district). This area is also a special-use forest under the management of the Pu Luong Nature Reserve Management Board. Initially, authorities determined that this mining site was formed in May, the "gold thieves" had dug a tunnel about 5 m deep, and a horizontal tunnel up to 26 m long.

Although the People's Committee of Ba Thuoc District and related units have repeatedly inspected and demolished the camps and water tanks of "gold thieves", this method is just a drop in the ocean, and illegal gold mining continues.

The country's special-use forests and precious minerals are still being encroached upon and stolen despite many "layers of protection" from local authorities to forest rangers and nature reserve management boards... The important thing to prevent special-use forests and resources from continuing to be stolen is to prevent the first step of those who intend to dig for gold from entering special-use forest land and to increase the responsibility of local authorities as well as "the eyes and ears of the people".

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chong-vang-tac-nhu-muoi-bo-be-185230623212816406.htm