Before the Government Inspectorate concluded that many violations were involved in the granting of sand mining licenses, the An Giang Provincial People's Committee had granted 22 mineral mining licenses. Of these, 16 were for sand mining as landfill material. To date, the An Giang Provincial People's Committee has revoked 10 sand mining licenses.
People are angry
Former Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (TN-MT) of An Giang province, Nguyen Viet Tri, once emphasized: "The authorities have installed cameras and positioning devices for sand mining activities of enterprises to avoid sand extraction outside the permitted area, sand pumping at night, and at the same time widely publicized on the media for people to monitor."
However, not long after this statement, Trung Hau Investment Joint Stock Company - Tong 68 was discovered to have exploited sand beyond the permitted output and "smuggling" it to sell outside the project. In connection with this incident, Mr. Tri was prosecuted for "Accepting bribes", and a series of other officials in charge of natural resources and environment were prosecuted for "Abusing positions and powers while performing official duties".
A sand mine in Phu Tan district, An Giang province makes people angry. Photo: VINH KY
Sand mining has been causing landslides for many years in An Giang, making people very indignant. A few years ago, people in Cu Islet, Tan My Commune, Cho Moi District were upset about many dredgers taking sand on the Tien River. At that time, Cu Islet had an area of about 48 hectares with more than 200 households living there. Because the islet is located at a river junction, it erodes every year. When dredgers came to take sand, the whole village ran out on boats to stop them. However, sand was still exploited to complete the dredging project of Cu Lao Gieng Canal, Cho Moi District.
Notably, not long ago, in Cho Moi district, a terrible landslide occurred on the Vam Nao River. More than 16 houses fell into the river and more than 100 households were affected.
"Hot" in the border area
In Vinh Long , 39 mineral mining mines (river sand) have been licensed and have had their operating licenses renewed on the Tien, Hau and Co Chien rivers. After inspection, 19 mining areas have stopped operating due to expired mining licenses.
In addition to licensed mines, illegal sand mining still occurs on the Tien and Co Chien rivers, mainly in the border areas between Vinh Long, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh. The subjects operate at night, hire people to look out, constantly change the time of sand mining, and inform each other when they detect patrol forces.
A few years ago, people in Phu Thanh commune, Tra On district and My Hoa commune, Binh Minh town, Vinh Long province discovered a large tonnage ship illegally pumping sand in the border river area, so they mobilized people from both localities to use vehicles to stop it. However, the group of "sand bandits" rushed out with iron pipes and crowbars to attack. The incident only stopped when people called the police.
Although the authorities regularly inspect, detect and handle many cases of illegal sand mining, this situation still occurs with increasingly sophisticated methods due to the huge profits. A construction contractor in Can Tho City said that sand purchased at the mine fluctuates between 40,000 - 55,000 VND/m3 but when sold on the market, the average price is 180,000 - 200,000 VND/m3.
According to statistics from Waterway Division II, Traffic Police Department - Ministry of Public Security, in the first 6 months of 2023, the unit coordinated with local authorities to directly handle 5 cases involving subjects and vehicles that exploited and transported sand with many violations.
Coordinate processing
According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho City, by the end of May 2023, two companies were granted registration for sand mining and filling vehicles on the Hau River, namely Minh Khang Construction - Service Trading Company Limited and Song Hau Service Trading Company Limited.
Mr. Pham Nam Huan, Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho City, said that the department publishes information on all sand mining vehicles on the unit's website regarding serial numbers, coordinates, area...
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho City also sent information to the police and local authorities of neighboring provinces to jointly monitor, inspect and handle illegal sand mining activities. "In recent years, licensed sand mining vehicles have not violated any laws," Mr. Huan affirmed.
In the first 6 months of 2023, the Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department - Vinh Long Provincial Police discovered 8 cases of illegal sand mining and transportation. This unit also coordinated with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Inspectorate to inspect 8 river sand mining areas, discovered and punished 2 cases of mining beyond the licensed boundaries.
In addition, the police of Long Ho, Tra On and Mang Thit districts, Vinh Long province also discovered 18 cases of illegal sand mining and transportation involving 27 subjects, and imposed fines of more than 2.5 billion VND...
528 km of particularly dangerous landslides
According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from 2016 to present, the Mekong Delta has 779 landslides with a total length of 1,134 km. Of these, 281 landslides with 528 km of especially dangerous landslides need to build protective works; 155 landslides with 306 km of dangerous landslides.
Recently, the police of Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Ben Tre and Dong Thap provinces signed and agreed to issue coordination regulations in border areas to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the fight against crimes and law violations in the field of mineral resources.
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