Who allowed Truong Linh Private Enterprise to block Hieu River?

According to this local, the Hieu River has two branches, in the middle there is a large sand and gravel bar, hundreds of meters long; one branch belongs to Tan Huong block (Tan Lac town), one branch belongs to Ke Bang village (Chau Hanh commune).

Sand and gravel mining area of ​​Truong Linh Private Enterprise seen from Ke Bang Bridge. Photo: Nhat Lan

Around the end of December 2019, people from Truong Linh Company (a business licensed to exploit sand and gravel from Hieu River) mobilized excavators to create a dike to block the flow of the branch on Tan Huong block, causing Hieu River to be straightened and flow rapidly to one side of Ke Bang village.

Also during this time, the hydroelectric plant in Chau Thang continuously operated to produce electricity and discharged water, causing the water level of the Hieu River to rise and crash into the production land of the Ke Bang people, causing landslides, making everyone worried and upset. “We have sent our opinions to the Village Management Board and a petition to the Commune People's Committee, but they have not been resolved. We request Nghe An Newspaper to verify and give opinions on this matter to help the people…”.

Location of the landslide-affected production land of Ke Bang villagers. Photo: Nhat Lan

Ke Bang village belongs to Chau Hanh commune, adjacent to residential areas of Tan Lac town. Most of the people here are Thai ethnic people. They confirmed the information received by Nghe An Newspaper hotline, and expressed their indignation because "6-7 years ago, because of gold mining on Hieu river, landslides caused people to relocate their houses. Now, there is sand and gravel mining, blocking the river, causing consequences."

At the landslide site, Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee placed warning signs. Photo: Nhat Lan

Observations of reality are exactly as the people informed. At the location where the Hieu River was blocked, there was a small dike that was built not long ago. Also here, the Hieu River was bent sharply, the water flowed rapidly to the Ke Bang village, and there was a landslide in the people's production area.

About 500-600m from Ke Bang Bridge (National Highway 48 Bridge), there is a sand dredger operating. Also in this area, on a piece of land belonging to Tan Huong block, there is a sand wharf. From the sand wharf, there is a path down to the river that has been connected to the sandbank in the middle of the river. According to local people, the reason the enterprise blocked a branch of the river is to create a path to transport sand from the dredger to the sand wharf.

Small dike of the enterprise blocks Hieu river. Photo: Nhat Lan

The act of arbitrarily building dikes on rivers isViolations of regulations on ensuring the circulation of natural flows, causing landslides, will be punished in Article 24, Decree No. 33/2017/ND-CP dated April 3, 2017 of the Government on administrative sanctions in the field of water resources and minerals.

So is it because the business did it on its own initiative, or did they get permission from the competent authority? According to Lang Van Hoa and Lu Xuan Thoai (people of Ke Bang village), the business did it on its own initiative.

Because when the people wrote a petition, the Chairman of the Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee and the land officials went down to inspect and confirmed that this was the wrongdoing of the enterprise. However, the Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee could not resolve the issue because the location of the enterprise that blocked the river was within the boundaries of Tan Lac town. "The Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee reported this incident to the district..." Mr. Lang Van Hoa informed.

Hieu River is straightened. Photo: Nhat Lan

On December 24, 2019, Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee sent Report No. 298/BC-UBND to Quy Chau District People's Committee to report the incident of a business arbitrarily blocking Hieu River. Accordingly, on December 23, 2019, Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee received a complaint from Ke Bang villagers.

During the inspection, it was discovered that at the Hieu River wharf area in Tan Huong block, Truong Linh Company was exploiting sand and gravel, blocking the Hieu River (a small branch on the Tan Huong block side).

Specifically, at this section of the river, it is divided into two branches, forming a sand and gravel bar in the middle of the river (in the sand and gravel mining area of ​​Truong Linh Company). At the time of inspection, Truong Linh Company was using excavators and trucks to dig up soil and gravel to block the flow on the bank of Tan Huong block, with the aim of forcing water to flow along a main stream to the bank of Ke Bang village.

A household in Ke Bang village had to be relocated due to riverbank erosion. Photo: Nhat Lan

In Report No. 298/BC-UBND, Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee affirmed: "Blocking the flow will cause landslides when the hydropower plant discharges water daily and during the rainy season, which could affect production land and people's lives, causing people to worry and feel frustrated."

And because the location of the blockage of the flow into the mine area is within the administrative boundary of Tan Lac town, this report also clearly states that Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee cannot intervene, and requests Quy Chau District People's Committee and related departments to help and intervene with Tan Lac Town People's Committee and Truong Linh Company to restore the status quo, clear the flow as before, avoid possible bad consequences, and at the same time reassure the people.

The sand and gravel trading wharf of the enterprise has a road down to the sand and gravel dune in the middle of Hieu River. Photo: Nhat Lan

According to Chairman of Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee, Mr. Cao Hoang Hai, after receiving the report from Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee, Quy Chau District People's Committee assigned Tan Lac Town People's Committee to handle the matter. Chau Hanh Commune worked with Tan Lac Town People's Committee, requesting to resolve the people's petition.

The handling direction of Tan Lac Town People's Committee is to request Truong Linh Enterprise to dig and exploit sand and gravel in the middle of the river to create a flow in the middle of Hieu River. Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee has proposed to implement this plan soon, but Tan Lac Town People's Committee stated that they are busy and will only do it after Lunar New Year. "Chau Hanh Commune People's Committee cannot do anything more. The reason is as we stated in the report, the violations of the enterprise were not carried out within the administrative boundaries of the commune...".

Mr. Lang Van Hoa and Mr. Lu Xuan Thoai reported to reporters about the situation of a business arbitrarily blocking a branch of the Hieu River. Photo: Nhat Lan

Grasping information from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the company that blocked the Hieu River is called Truong Linh Private Enterprise; was granted a mineral exploitation license No. 5501/GP-UBND by the Provincial People's Committee on November 13, 2017.

This enterprise is licensed to exploit sand, gravel, and pebbles for common materials using the open-cast method in two alluvial areas of Hieu River in Chau Thang Commune and Tan Lac Town. The exploitation area in Tan Lac Town alone is 3 hectares wide.