Rectify unregulated activities at the Lai Ferry destination before the tourist season.
To ensure the safety of tourists, while awaiting enforcement action against violations at Lai Ferry, the People's Committee of Con Cuong District has requested tourism companies not to bring tourists to this destination. This move was made after these restaurants failed to comply with the ban on ceasing tourism activities and dismantling illegal structures.
On April 27th, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district, stated that the locality had issued a document regarding the suspension of activities at the Lai Ferry area (Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district). "We request that travel companies refrain from bringing tourists here, especially during the upcoming holiday," Mr. Tuan said.
According to Mr. Tuan, in implementing the conclusion of the Chairman of the Con Cuong District People's Committee regarding the resolution of issues at the Lai Ferry, since the end of 2024, the Con Cuong District People's Committee has issued a notice on temporarily suspending the reception of tourists at the Lai Ferry dam area and on the Giang River in Mon Son commune, while also implementing solutions to address violations. However, to date, only VSC Tourism and Service Company Limited has complied with the notice.
"Floating raft businesses are still defying local authorities' notices and continuing to conduct business activities at the Pha Lai dam, violating the regulations in Decision No. 72/2024/QD-UBND dated December 27, 2024, of the People's Committee of Nghe An province on the promulgation of regulations on the management of inland waterway passenger transport and the operation of water-based recreational vehicles in Nghe An province, specifically regarding floating rafts and inland waterway vessels operating in the tourist transport business," the document from the People's Committee of Con Cuong district stated.
According to this document, the People's Committee of Con Cuong District issued a decision to impose administrative penalties and a decision to enforce remedial measures against the owners of floating rafts in the land sector. They also required the owners to dismantle the rafts themselves and restore the water surface to its original condition. However, to date, the owners of the floating rafts have not yet proceeded with the dismantling. The People's Committee of Con Cuong District is currently finalizing a plan for the forced demolition of the aforementioned floating rafts.
The handling of violations at Pha Lai ferry has been ongoing for many years, as local residents have refused to comply with the local authorities' requests. Numerous solutions have been implemented, along with a series of dialogues between the leaders of the Con Cuong District People's Committee and the violating households, but the issue remains unresolved. On April 5th, Nghe An Newspaper published an article titled "Procrastination in Handling Violations at the Pha Lai Tourist Destination" to reflect this situation.
Shortly thereafter, on April 10th, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued a document regarding the handling of information reflected by Nghe An Newspaper. In it, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long instructed the Chairman of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to urgently investigate, verify, and definitively resolve the issues reflected by the press; and to handle or propose to relevant competent authorities to strictly handle violations in accordance with the law.
Furthermore, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism also issued a document stating that the violations by owners of floating restaurants at Lai Ferry have been reported in the press for many years, causing public outrage and distorting the image of Nghe An tourism in the eyes of domestic and international tourists. To build a professional and environmentally friendly tourism environment, aiming to attract tourists and tourism investors to Nghe An province, the department has advised the Provincial People's Committee to direct the Con Cuong District People's Committee to urgently investigate, clarify, and definitively resolve the reported issues before April 25, 2025.
In response to this issue, the People's Committee of Con Cuong District stated that it is continuing to coordinate with relevant agencies to address the identified violations and directing functional forces to strictly control business activities in this area, ensuring compliance with tourism service requirements, especially regarding the safety of tourists. The People's Committee of Con Cuong District also requested the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the District Cultural, Information and Communication Center; and the People's Committees of communes and towns to continue coordinating in disseminating information about the cessation of tourism and service business activities in the Pha Lai dam area and on the Giang River until the district definitively resolves the identified violations.
According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, inspections of these floating restaurants revealed numerous violations, including operating unlicensed waterways and passenger vessels without proper registration. "Compared to regulations, these restaurants have committed many violations, but for now, we have only issued administrative penalties related to land encroachment and encroachment on protected forest land. However, to date, these households have not complied with paying the fines. Furthermore, the corrugated iron fences that the authorities erected have also been dismantled," Mr. Tuan said.
Over the years, numerous inter-agency inspection teams have concluded and demanded the cessation of operations of illegal floating houses at the Pha Lai Ferry project. Specifically, since June 2020, the provincial inter-agency inspection team has requested three families operating floating houses within the Pha Lai Ferry tourist area to cease operations due to insufficient conditions. In June 2022, the former Department of Transport issued a document stating, “Regarding floating houses operating food and beverage services in the Pha Lai Ferry dam area, they are not inland waterway vessels as regulated and are temporary structures not subject to legal regulations on design, technical safety inspection, and registration. We request the People's Committee of Con Cuong district to direct relevant authorities to suspend operations and develop a plan for dismantling and clearing them to ensure the safety of tourists in the Pha Lai Ferry dam area and on the Giang River.”
In June 2023, the People's Committee of Con Cuong District issued a notice requiring that "by July 10, 2023 at the latest, all owners of floating restaurants operating in the Pha Lai dam area must hand over the water surface area of the Pha Lai dam on the Giang River to the People's Committee of Con Cuong District. At the same time, it required those owners who had signed commitments to voluntarily dismantle all constructions, structures, materials, goods, machinery, equipment, etc., in the Pha Lai dam area before July 8, 2023. After this date, the People's Committee of the district would erect barriers to prevent residents and tourists from entering the area." However, these requirements were not complied with by the violating households. The authorities were forced to erect barriers, but still left small access points, allowing the floating restaurants to continue serving customers.
In December 2024, the People's Committee of Con Cuong District issued a document regarding the temporary suspension of tourist visits to the Pha Lai dam area and on the Giang River. The notice clearly stated that tourist visits, food and beverage services, and passenger transport by inland waterway in the Pha Lai dam area upstream of Khe Khang would be suspended from December 12, 2024, until further notice from the District People's Committee. The notice also mandated the dismantling of structures violating construction, land, resources, and environmental regulations, to be completed before December 20, 2024. Decisions were also issued to enforce corrective measures against the floating houses. However, the violating households once again failed to comply.
