24 hours of tension at Khe Hang gold mine
(Baonghean) -On June 29 and 30, the People's Committee of Que Phong district, with the support and assistance of Nghe An police forces, conducted a raid to chase away illegal gold miners, causing disorder and violating national resources in the Khe Hang mountain area (locals also call it Huoi Hang), Huoi May village, Sub-region 144, Cam Muon commune, Que Phong district. Reflection of Nghe An Newspaper reporter accompanying the working group.
At exactly 6:00 a.m. on June 29, we followed the working group starting from Kim Son Town - Que Phong District. The members included officers and soldiers of the Environmental Police Department, the Mobile Police Department - Nghe An Police, the Inter-agency Working Group 136, the Mobile Forest Ranger Team and PCCCR No. 3. Colonel Tran Huu Hong - Head of the Environmental Police Department was the team leader. Before that, at 5:00 a.m., the working group of the District People's Committee including police and military forces led by Mr. Lang Van Minh - Vice Chairman of the Que Phong District People's Committee marched ahead.
On the way, Colonel Tran Huu Hong confided: "This time we must do it completely so that the situation of mineral exploitation violations does not drag on and last. This is not only a violation of national resources and minerals, but more importantly, the discipline of the law and human life, the lives of the people". According to records, for a long time at the Khe Hang gold mine, there have been over 200 wells and pits dug by bandits to exploit gold. Normally, there are 500 - 700 people gathered here, at peak times there are over 1,000 people with a very complicated security and order situation.
After a whole day of following the mountainside and climbing the slope, the Khe May gold mine appeared before us with its red water. The entire stream in Cam Muon commune was torn apart by tunnels and holes. Some tunnels were tens of meters deep, and the subjects had dug dozens of horizontal and vertical tunnels underground. Just one rain and the risk of the tunnel collapsing was inevitable.
We encountered many groups of people coming out of the mountains. Ms. Luong Thi Thoa from Cam village with a basket and a basket on her back said that upon hearing the news that the police were coming to chase them, many people left in a hurry. However, the number of people leaving the field to go home was insignificant compared to the subjects who continued to stay and drill in the Khe Hang mountain area. When we arrived at the center of the gold field at 12 noon, there were still about 300 people gathered in the camps with an attitude of challenging the authorities. I crawled into a dilapidated shack in the middle of the hill and saw a group of about 10 people lying and sitting in a space filled with smoke from a makeshift stove. Gold miner Lo Van Luong said that his group of 14 people were all from Cam village, Cam Muon commune. Mr. Luong lamented: “It’s so hard, man! I borrowed money from the bank, sold all my buffaloes and pigs to raise capital and seek my fortune. It’s been three months and I haven’t seen anything yet. I’ve lost nearly 400 million VND. I have to earn enough capital before I can go home!”
Some illegal miners have not left the gold mine.
Mr. Lo Van Luong's group is just one of dozens of groups of people trying to stay at Khe Hang gold mine in the hope that the working group will return to dig and exploit illegally. In fact, less than 2 months ago, the provincial police force and Que Phong district government also established a working group to conduct a sweep, chase away, and confiscate machinery and illegal vehicles. But when the group withdrew, the situation continued to recur. Learning from previous experiences, this time, according to Mr. Lang Van Minh - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee, "we will have to act decisively". Before the sweep, Que Phong District People's Committee sent an official dispatch to the communes in the area requesting them to carry out propaganda and mobilization work to each village and each household. Right at the time we were at Khe Hang, many officers and soldiers went to each shack, met with each individual and subject to persuade them to dismantle their shacks and transport their vehicles out of the area. However, it was not until 2:30 p.m. on June 29, when the working group decided to carry out forced demolition, that the people agreed to collect their tools and belongings and move away from the central area of the gold mine. Some extremists incited the people to find ways to obstruct and cause difficulties for the authorities. It took the police nearly 2 hours to clear the central area of Khe Hang mountain. At this time, explosives were brought down to the wells and tunnels that had been dug deep before, collapsing them all to prevent the recurrence of illegal mining, and on the other hand, to protect the health and lives of the people.
The situation became more and more tense towards the end of the afternoon of June 29. The extremists gathered together and shouted at the law enforcement officers. Some of them even detonated explosives to threaten them. In order to prevent the situation from becoming more complicated, the working group arranged for the police to set up a fence to prevent any rash actions. In the tense situation, Mr. Lo Van Tung - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cam Muon Commune, Que Phong District could not hide his anxiety: "It's very complicated. After the previous expulsion, the commune officials and participants all received threatening phone calls and text messages."
At night, the working group decided to set up camp, assigning forces to block and guard. It was a really long night. We had to endure the constant screaming of the rioters. On the morning of June 30, the people still refused to leave the gold mine. They gathered in groups of 20 to 30 people. Some played cards, some drank alcohol, ate breakfast and sat around.
By noon on June 30, the subjects and people had shown no signs of disturbance or shouting. In the face of the above situation, the provincial police continued to mobilize additional forces to support the restoration of order and long-term stability in Hang stream. Mr. Lang Van Minh - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee said that the district had a plan, in the immediate future, to set up teams and checkpoints at locations such as Cam and Na Que villages - Cam Muon commune; Pa Cha and Na Khich villages - Nam Nhoong commune. The purpose of these teams is to both mobilize and propagate not to go to the gold mines, not to exploit minerals illegally, and at the same time prevent subjects from transporting vehicles, machinery, and fuel into the Huoi May and Huoi Hang areas. "Now that there is electricity, there is no reason to transport barrels of gasoline and oil. It is only brought in to make gold." - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee affirmed.
We left Khe Hang mountain at 2:00 p.m. on June 30. More than 130 officers and soldiers of the functional forces continued to perform their duties at Khe Hang. It was not until 6:00 p.m. that we reached Cam village. It suddenly started to rain heavily. Torrential rain. I thought that if the working group had arrived a day later, things could have been worse. The deep gold wells could threaten the lives of illegal gold miners at any time. But I wonder if this is the last time the officers and soldiers have to stand in the rain, losing sleep and appetite?
Article and photos: Dao Tuan
