People suffer from environmental pollution from coal transportation on National Highway 15D

People in A Deng village, A Ngo commune often complain that the coal gathering and unloading site of Nam Tien Company Ltd. causes dust pollution and muddy traffic roads - Photo: Le Truong

Only when you are present at the A Rong Tren village school, belonging to the A Ngo Kindergarten, Dakrong district, can you fully see the hardships of the teachers here. The hardship is not in taking care of the children but in constantly having to clean up coal dust. Located right on the first section of National Highway 15D connecting the Ho Chi Minh Road, the West branch, to the La Lay International Border Gate, the A Rong Tren school often has to endure the dust that flies into the classrooms in the dry season or the mud and dirt in the rainy season due to the coal dust caused by heavy trucks transporting from the La Lay International Border Gate to the province's interior through this area.

Eat and learn with coal dust

Teacher Ho Thi Hong Lai was upset: “During the dry season, the hot sun, along with the Lao wind blowing up, causes fine dust from the coal transportation to fly into every corner of the classroom, sticking to the children's toys and personal belongings. Every day we have to clean and wipe the dust 2-3 times, sometimes on strong windy days we have to close the doors to teach, but that makes the children very uncomfortable and fussy, very miserable. Not only that, because the school is located right at a 3-way intersection, opposite are shops, so during rush hour, there are often a large number of coal container trucks stopping and dumping, causing noise, chaos, and traffic safety problems.”

As a teacher at A Ngo Kindergarten whose house is located at km 2 of National Highway 15D right next to the coal offloading area, teacher Nguyen Thi Hoai said that the school has 7 campuses, with 3 campuses located close to National Highway 15D, which is currently being seriously affected by the transportation of coal through this area.

Ms. Ho Thi Hong Lai at A Rong Tren Kindergarten has to clean utensils 2-3 times a day but coal dust still sticks to them - Photo: Le Truong

“On this route, especially the section connecting the Ho Chi Minh Highway West branch to La Lay International Border Gate, from around 8-9am onwards, long lines of heavy trucks rush towards the border gate to receive coal from Laos, and from around 3pm until late at night, these trucks return, so the traffic on the road is almost always crowded with tractor-trailers, heavy trucks carrying coal and some other goods passing through.

As for me, every day when I go to class to teach, I suffer from coal dust, when I come home, coal dust turns my life upside down, so I am really worried. When it is sunny, the dust flies suffocatingly, and in the rainy season, in front of the coal loading yard, vehicles go in and out continuously, dragging mud and coal dust onto the road, making the road slippery and muddy, making it very dangerous to travel. Not only that, the road is full of curves, but these vehicles drive very fast, honking loudly, causing noise and extremely unsafe traffic."

For over 2 years now, the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Giao Linh at km 4, National Highway 15D in A Deng village, A Ngo commune has had to keep their doors tightly closed every day. The house is only a few steps from the road, so there is almost no place in Ms. Linh's house that is free of coal dust.

“I am very worried. In front of my house is a road, next to it is a coal unloading yard, so my house is no different from a “coal furnace”. It rains a lot this season, so it is less dusty, but in return, the road is muddy because the coal dust is soft and slippery, making it very dangerous to walk. Then, in the early afternoon and evening, a long line of container trucks gets stuck, moving little by little to circulate, making it very inconvenient for my family. Although the house and household items are cleaned regularly, every few hours they are covered with a thick layer of coal dust.

This situation is not only my family's but also many households in this area have to live in fear and anxiety about their health, especially the elderly and children. We have also reported it many times to the local authorities and businesses, but up to now this situation has not been resolved or handled," Ms. Linh said indignantly.

Not only Ms. Linh's family, many households living along National Highway 15D in the communes of A Ngo, A Bung, Ta Rut... are also in the same situation because their lives are seriously affected by environmental pollution from coal transportation activities from Laos to Vietnam.

In addition, on the route there are schools and service businesses that have to suffer from coal dust and worry because National Highway 15D is narrow, has many curves, passes through many residential areas and offices, but every day has to face a large number of trailers and containers continuously circulating, posing a very high risk of traffic safety.

What do the government and businesses say?

Chairman of the People's Committee of A Ngo Commune, Ho Tat Huan, said that the problem of environmental pollution and damage to traffic infrastructure caused by coal transportation from Laos to Vietnam through La Lay International Border Gate has been petitioned and reported by local people and authorities many times over the past few years, but has not yet been thoroughly resolved.

When it rains, the coal dust becomes slippery and dangerous for people to walk on - Photo: Le Truong

These activities are related to PTS Vietnam Logistics Joint Stock Company, Hoanh Son Group Company Limited and Nam Tien Company Limited. Particularly, the coal transfer and unloading yard of Nam Tien Company Limited in A Deng village is currently operating and is often reported by local people about environmental pollution and traffic safety in the yard area.

“This is a temporary storage and offloading area that the Provincial People's Committee agreed in principle in August 2023 for this unit to simultaneously carry out legal procedures according to regulations, and at the same time open a temporary storage and offloading area at the above location. This area is also where Nam Tien Company Limited is researching and surveying to establish an investment project to build a warehouse for storing goods, which was previously approved by the Prime Minister and the Provincial People's Committee. Therefore, regarding the environmental pollution here, we only remind and urge businesses to strengthen environmental protection measures,” Mr. Huan informed.

A large number of heavy trucks transporting coal from Laos cause dust pollution and damage to National Highway 15D - Photo: Le Truong

Speaking to reporters of Quang Tri Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Giang, representative of Nam Tien Company Limited, admitted that the company's coal transportation and offloading activities caused environmental pollution. However, the cause was partly due to limited traffic infrastructure, the border gate area on the Vietnamese side and neighboring Laos was under repair, so when traveling, mud and dirt from various areas were dragged onto the road, causing dust pollution.

“To minimize the impact on people, the unit is trying to complete the environmental protection infrastructure at the temporary offloading site by covering the coal with tarpaulins, building settling pits, regularly watering the route, and regulating vehicles appropriately...

However, this is only a temporary measure. In the long term, we recommend that local authorities at all levels soon invest in completing the traffic infrastructure here, creating all conditions for the unit to complete legal procedures to deploy the construction of warehouses according to standards, contributing to limiting the impact on people's lives," Mr. Giang wished.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/dan-kho-do-o-nhiem-moi-truong-tu-hoat-dong-van-chuyen-than-da-tren-quoc-lo-15d-193639.htm