Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky...

About 50km from Vinh, in the Duom area - Thuy Chung hamlet (Thanh Thuy, Thanh Chuong), which borders Laos and Huong Son district (Ha Tinh), an illegal wood chip factory has existed for quite a long time. In the Duom area, it is the station of Production Team No. 2, Youth Volunteer Team 5, and the illegal wood chip factory, belonging to Thanh Thuy Agricultural Cooperative, is managed by a member of Youth Volunteer Team 5, Mr. Tran Cong Quy.

The wood chip factory is located on a fairly large, flat plot of land, approximately 2 hectares wide, which is perennial land under the management of the Youth Volunteer Team 5 but has been contracted out to a team member, who is also a member of the Cooperative. The factory system and wood chip machinery are old. At the time we visited, the factory premises had acacia wood, round wood and peeled wood for plywood, as well as wood chips. But the wood chip machine system was stopped working. According to the owner of the factory, Tran Cong Quy, it was malfunctioning and was being repaired.

Mr. Tran Cong Quy introduced himself as joining the Youth Volunteer Team 5 right after its establishment in 2000. After that, he became a member of Production Team No. 2, went to Duom area to settle down and make a long-term living, developed according to the combined Agriculture - Forestry model, protected upstream protection forests, maintained political security, social order and safety, and contributed to maintaining security on the Vietnam - Laos border.

In this place, before it was a wild mountainous area, with no people, no roads, no electricity. After more than 20 years, with the efforts of 3 production teams, including 157 team members with nearly 600 people, the Duom area now has tea hills and about 700 hectares of green acacia forest. For more than 3 years, the Duom area has had electricity, opening up many directions in economic development for households and team members.

Thanh Thuy Agricultural Cooperative was established at this stage, in 2020. The registered business lines of the Cooperative include wholesale of agricultural and forestry raw materials (except wood, bamboo, and rattan) and live animals; production of plywood, veneer, plywood and other thin boards; production of other wood products, production of products from bamboo, rattan, straw, stubble and plaiting materials... Although the wood chipping business line is not included in the business registration, the Cooperative invested in doing so after Mr. Quy and his members realized the need to increase the economic value of acacia trees of the Team members and people in the area.

Mr. Quy said: “The team members spent a lot of effort planting and caring for the trees for 5-6 years, but they were always forced to lower the price by traders from other places. Acacia trees become hollow and lose value over time, while the team members’ lives are difficult, so they are forced to sell. Realizing that organizing the chipping will bring economic benefits to the Cooperative, and at the same time, create convenience for the households in the area, we invested in equipment to do it…”.

Since opening the workshop, Thanh Thuy Agricultural Cooperative has become a place to purchase acacia for most of the team members in the area, as well as acacia growers in Thanh Thuy commune and Son Hong commune, Huong Son district (Ha Tinh).

Mr. Tran Cong Quy also did not hide the fact that the land the Cooperative is using has not been granted a Land Use Right Certificate, and has not changed its purpose of use; the documents and procedures related to the environment, safety management, origin of forest products, etc. are also incomplete. Therefore, he recognized that Thanh Thuy Agricultural Cooperative was wrong in installing equipment, wood chipping machinery lines, and factory systems, and was at risk of having to close.

“

Recently, an inspection team has come to work, they have pointed out the existing problems of the Cooperative, requesting to stop the wood chipping activities. Therefore, we are trying to complete the procedures according to regulations to continue production...".

Mr. Tran Cong Quy

In Tan Ky district, there is an illegal wood chip factory in Nghia Binh commune. The factory is located about 100m from Ho Chi Minh road, over 7,500m²Garden land of a household in hamlet 6. The owner of this wood chip factory is Mr. Tran Xuan Hai, former Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghia Binh commune.

According to Mr. Hai, the workshop was opened in 2021, with registered industries including: Sawing, sawing, planing wood and wood preservation (Sawing, sawing, peeling wood, wood processing, production of wood fiber, wood powder, shavings, wood pellets). However, in Nghia Binh land, which has the second largest acacia area in Tan Ky district (about 800 hectares), people are often forced to lower prices by traders, so in September 2023, Mr. Hai's family borrowed money to buy a chip chipping line to switch to wood chip chipping.

As a person who understands the regulations of the State, Mr. Tran Xuan Hai recognized that the contents of organizing production on land that has not been converted in purpose, and operating in industries not listed in the Business Registration Certificate are not in accordance with the law. However, he explained that the source of raw materials for chipping wood is mainly self-exploiting planted forests of the family and buying from some households and individuals within the area of ​​Nghia Binh commune. With the operating capacity of the workshop, each day it will be able to chop 100 tons of fresh acacia wood, which will create convenience and increase economic value for the people of Nghia Binh commune.

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In Tan Ky district, along the Ho Chi Minh route, there are only a few weighing stations that also purchase glue to sell to other factories in the province or to Thanh Hoa. Therefore, organizing production on the spot will bring people higher economic benefits…”.

Mr. Tran Xuan Hai

Con Cuong, Nghia Dan, Thai Hoa, Quy Chau...

According to research, illegal wood chip factories exist in many localities, not just in Thanh Chuong and Tan Ky districts. For example, in Con Cuong mountain district, there is a wood chip production and processing facility of Hoan Thanh Wood Processing Joint Stock Company. The factory is located in Tong Chai village, Chi Khe commune, in the premises of Huy Tuan Joint Stock Company - Nghe An branch (formerly Tra Lan Paper Production, Recycling and Processing Factory of Tan Hong Import-Export Joint Stock Company).

In 2019, Huy Tuan Joint Stock Company was leased land by the Provincial People's Committee to implement a corrugated cardboard production investment project with a capacity of 45,000 tons/year. However, during the process of carrying out procedures, Huy Tuan Joint Stock Company leased part of the factory to Hoan Thanh Wood Processing Joint Stock Company to install a wood chip chipping line. Because the organization of wood chip chipping was not in accordance with the law, after a while, the Con Cuong District People's Committee discovered and inspected it, and requested it to stop operating.

In Nghia Dan district, right at the Nghia Long commune industrial cluster, Phu Quy Forestry Processing Joint Stock Company also organized illegal wood chipping activities. Phu Quy Forestry Processing Joint Stock Company acquired the Export Wood Processing Factory Project of Phuong Nguyen Joint Stock Company in 2016.

Also in 2016, in Document No. 9817/UBND-CN, the Provincial People's Committee gave its opinion on adjusting the Investment Certificate of the Export Wood Processing Factory project to transfer the investor from Phuong Nguyen Joint Stock Company to Phu Quy Forest Products Processing Joint Stock Company, in which it requested to clarify the investment objectives of the project's product types before considering granting the adjusted Investment Certificate (note: not processing wood chips). However, while the license adjustment had not been completed, Phu Quy Forest Products Processing Joint Stock Company proceeded to install the production line and operate wood chip chipping.

In Nghia My Industrial Cluster, Thai Hoa Town, on December 13, 2023, an enterprise was administratively fined by the government with an amount of up to 170 million VND. This enterprise is PTP Investment Company Limited, implementing the Project of a factory producing laminated boards and producing civil and fine art wood. The error leading to the fine was installing and organizing the operation of 2 chip grinding lines, while this item was not included in the construction drawing design documents, not in accordance with the approved detailed construction planning.

In Quy Chau mountainous district, the wood chip factory was "allowed" to be installed and operated in Ke Nam village, Chau Binh commune, on the waste land of the Ban Mong reservoir project that had been handed over to the local government for management. In January 2023, with the reason of avoiding people encroaching on acacia land, the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune leased land to Mr. Ho Duc Hoan to open a wood processing factory. However, in December 2023, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district discovered that Mr. Ho Duc Hoan had illegally built a wood chip factory, so it issued a document directing the People's Committee of Chau Binh commune to inspect and handle violations according to the provisions of law...

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