3 inland waterways in Nghe An are not licensed but still operating

According to the report of the Department of Transport, Nghe An currently has 3 inland waterway areas with vehicles anchored for passenger transport activities but have not been licensed.

Specifically, the first area is Cau Cau lake area, district.Thanh ChuongAlthough this area has not been licensed for a wharf, there are 34 inland waterway vehicles owned by people in Thanh An and Thanh Thinh communes participating in passenger transport for tourism, with boat capacity from 8 CV to 15 CV. Of these, 23/34 vehicles are registered, 11/34 vehicles are unregistered, 13/34 vehicles are still valid for inspection, 21/34 vehicles are not yet registered or have expired for inspection.

Some spontaneous boats of local people at Cau Cau Lake are operating to pick up and drop off passengers. Among them, some boats carry more people than the prescribed load.

The second area is the Ban Ve hydroelectric lake area, Tuong Duong district, currently there are 3 vehicles of Yen Na commune people participating in transporting passengers to Huu Khuong commune and 2 villages Ca Moong, Xop Chao of Luong Minh commune, with capacity from 6 CV - 10 CV. Of which, 3/3 of these vehicles have expired registration; the vehicle drivers do not have a professional certificate for operating inland waterway vehicles.

The third area is the Pha Lai dam area, Con Cuong district. Here, there are currently 42 inland waterway vehicles of Mon Son commune people participating in passenger transport for tourism on Giang river and transporting passengers from the dam to Co Phat village, Bung village, Mon Son commune, with capacity from 8 CV to 15 CV. There are 30 people operating the vehicles, of which 10/42 vehicles have been registered, 32/42 vehicles have not been registered, 5/42 vehicles have valid registration, 37/42 vehicles have not been registered or have expired registration.

A representative of the Department of Transport Inspectorate said: Through inspections by the relevant authorities, there are still many vehicles operating in the three inland waterways above that have not been registered or inspected. Vehicles arbitrarily anchor in inland waterways to pick up and drop off passengers. Some drivers do not have appropriate professional certificates, potentially causing safety risks for residents and tourists.

From 2022 to present, the authorities have inspected and handled violations of vehicles operating in the above inland waterways, imposed fines of over 90 million VND, and temporarily suspended operations of 7 vehicles.

For Cau Cau lake area, Thanh Chuong district, the province has announced the planning of inland waterways. To be granted an inland waterway wharf, Thanh Chuong district needs to complete the procedures and documents for relevant departments to consider. However, there are still problems, so up to now, Thanh Chuong district has not completed the documents.

For the Ban Ve hydroelectric lake area, Tuong Duong district, currently because the ferry infrastructure does not meet requirements, the competent authority has not yet granted a license.

In the Pha Lai dam area, Con Cuong district, on October 25, 2022, the People's Committee of Con Cuong district developed Plan No. 165/KH-UBND on "Implementing solutions to problems at Pha Lai dam on Giang river, Mon Son commune". This includes the dismantling of floating rafts providing food and beverage services on the water and the relocation of vehicles meeting the conditions of the Pha Lai 2 inland waterway wharf, about 1 km from the Pha Lai dam area upstream of Giang river (Pha Lai 2 inland waterway wharf was announced by Nghe An Department of Transport under Decision No. 351/QD-SGTVT dated June 9, 2023), the time for related households to relocate and dismantle by themselves is before June 30, 2023. However, up to this point, the above vehicles have not moved to the inland waterway port of Pha Lai 2 but continue to anchor in the old area.

In the coming time, the Traffic Inspectorate will continue to coordinate with the Police force and local authorities at all levels to strengthen inspection, examination and handling of violations of the law in inland waterway traffic activities, especially violations of operating conditions of vehicles and drivers of inland waterway vehicles in the above areas./.