Warning of accidents from illegal boat docks to Thanh Chuong tea island

(Baonghean) - Tea Island - Cau Cau Lake (Thanh An Commune, Thanh Chuong District) is an attractive destination for tourists from inside and outside the province. However, because passenger transport activities are not licensed and do not meet the requirements for ensuring safety of waterway traffic, there are many potential dangers.

» Many worries at ferry terminals

Spontaneous boat dock

For nearly half a year now, on weekends or holidays, the number of tourists visiting the tea island - Cau Cau lake has been increasing. According to Mr. Hoang Van Lam in hamlet 1, Thanh An commune, the owner of a boat that takes tourists to visit the tea island, on a normal day there are about 100 visitors, but on weekends or on the recent New Year's Day there are 500 - 600 visitors, sometimes nearly 1,000 visitors. The boats are operating at full capacity but still cannot meet the demand, so they have to rent other people's boats to carry visitors.

Although there were life jackets on the boat, neither the boat driver nor the passengers were wearing them. (Photo taken on the morning of January 12).

Facing the attraction of the tea island, many households in Thanh An commune borrowed money to buy and build new boats to provide sightseeing services. For example, Mr. Lam's family is currently pooling capital with 2 other households to invest in building 4 new boats, including 1 large boat and 3 small boats.

According to Mr. Lam, the small boat can carry about 15 people per trip, while the large boat can carry about 25 people per trip. The large boat is also equipped with a sound system and karaoke screen to serve tourists. Realizing that the demand for tourists will increase in the coming time, Mr. Lam and some others are pooling capital to build two more boats, which are expected to be put into operation next month.

Up to now, in Thanh An commune, there are about 20 large and small boats, concentrated at 3 spontaneous docks opened by the locals. To have a place for tourists to wait for the boat and rest, the locals also dumped soil into the lake to expand the terrain. On the morning of January 12, although the weather was not favorable, many people still came to Cau Cau Lake to visit the tea islands.

According to the posted price, the round trip fare is 30,000 VND/passenger (children from 6 to under 15 years old are 15,000 VND/trip). According to observations, although there were life jackets on the boat, no one was seen wearing them, including the boat owner. Many people were standing on the bow of the boat, sitting on both sides of the boat...

It is known that although it has been operating for more than half a year, the boat dock at Cau Cau Lake has not been licensed by the authorities. On December 28, 2016, the Department of Transport Inspectorate coordinated with the relevant departments of Thanh Chuong District to conduct an inspection and concluded that the operation of inland waterway transport to serve tourists was not in accordance with regulations.

The watercrafts have not been registered or inspected; most of the drivers do not have professional certificates or inland waterway vehicle driving licenses. The Department of Transport Inspectorate has drawn up a report and requested the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to resolutely suspend the operation of spontaneous, unlicensed water ports and unqualified vehicles, and strictly handle cases of intentional violations according to regulations.

Tourists stand precariously on the bow and sides of the boat. (Photo taken on the morning of January 12).

“Do not develop tourism at all costs”

Assessing that transporting passengers without meeting the prescribed conditions will potentially cause a high risk of waterway traffic accidents, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thanh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: "Immediately after receiving the official dispatch from the Department of Transport, Thanh Chuong District People's Committee requested Thanh An Commune People's Committee to immediately suspend passenger transport activities that violate the law; organize patrols, promptly detect, and resolutely handle violations and re-offenses; Sign a commitment with boat owners not to operate without meeting the prescribed conditions.

However, the request to suspend the activity seems to be ineffective as boats still freely carry tourists to visit the tea hills every day." Mr. Nguyen Canh Nam - Chairman of Thanh An Commune People's Committee said: "People operate spontaneously so it is difficult to completely ban it."

Faced with the above situation, the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district sent an official dispatch to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Transport requesting permission to supplement the planning of the inland waterway terminal at Cau Cau lake; at the same time, granting a license to operate the inland waterway terminal at Cau Cau lake to the People's Committee of Thanh An commune to ensure operations according to regulations.

“To be licensed to operate an inland waterway port, 20/20 boats have been inspected; vehicle registration documents have been prepared and a course has been organized to issue vehicle driving certificates to the owners. The Commune People's Committee has organized for the boat owners to sign a commitment to protect the environment, order, safety and security when transporting tourists to visit the tea island. At the same time, a course has been organized for 51 people in the commune to be trained in boat driving, currently waiting for a certificate of eligibility to drive vehicles,” Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thanh added.

It is known that the Cau Cau Lake area has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee to select a location for surveying and establishing the Cau Cau mixed-use tourism, service and resort project, with the Traffic Construction Corporation 4 (Cienco 4) as the investor. Currently, the investor is conducting a survey to establish a detailed 1/500 plan to submit to the competent authority for approval.

People arbitrarily dumped soil to expand the terrain and opened illegal boat docks.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung - Director of Thanh Chuong Irrigation Company Limited, the unit managing Cau Cau irrigation lake, the main function of the lake is to serve irrigation for agricultural production for 3 communes: Thanh Thinh, Thanh An and Thanh Chi. Investing in tourism areas, mixed services and resorts is necessary to exploit the tourism potential of Thanh Chuong district, but it needs to be calculated appropriately, ensuring harmony of interests. Regarding the issue of people arbitrarily transporting tourists without permission, according to Mr. Hung, strong measures are needed to avoid possible unfortunate consequences, ensuring the safety of life and property for tourists.

"The lake area is 6-7 meters deep in some places, while the facilities are not yet in good condition, and there is no strict management or supervision, so if an incident occurs, the consequences will be unpredictable," said Mr. Hung.

“Do not develop tourism at all costs” - that is the viewpoint of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee on promoting the tourism potential of Cau Cau Lake. However, if looking at the current situation of Cau Cau Lake, it can be seen that there are potential dangers of waterway traffic accidents.

While all levels and sectors are speeding up the organization and management of tourism activities here, people still ignore mandatory regulations on passenger transport for immediate profits. In fact, in recent times, there have been many serious waterway traffic accidents nationwide, the main cause of which is the lax control of the authorities over the operating conditions according to regulations. Therefore, to ensure the safety of tourists coming to Cau Cau Lake and professionalize tourism activities at this destination, strong and reasonable measures are needed./.

Nguyen Hung