Is Hai Vai National Monument (Dien Chau) at risk of becoming ruins?

"Cut" relics to make roads

In early March, many working groups were established to directly go to the scene to inspect after receiving information reflecting that the Hai Vai National Historical Relic (Minh Chau Commune, Dien Chau District) was being encroached. At the foot of the relic, an excavator was still urgently patching up the "wounds" that had just been encroached. This is the location where hundreds of cubic meters of earth and rock had been excavated to build a road over the past several days.

“I don’t know who stole the dirt and rocks here in the past. I’m just a hired driver whose job is to fix the deep holes that were dug,” said the excavator operator, then quickly used the bulldozer to level the holes, using dirt and rocks from the spot to fill in the holes.

According to the reporter's records, many locations at the foot of Hai Vai cliff still have traces of excavation, creating deep holes. Hundreds of rocks have also been scooped up, not yet moved. Next to it is a road running around the foot of the cliff, with deep truck wheel tracks due to frequent traffic.

The incident was caused by a business constructing a 500KV power line project.

After discovering the incident, we made a record of suspension and requested to fix it and return it to its original state. We also reported the incident to the District People's Committee and the authority to handle it belongs to the district level.

Mr. Vo Dinh Quyen - Chairman of Minh Chau Commune People's Committee

According to Mr. Quyen, in order to construct two electric poles in the middle of the field near the Hai Vai escarpment, the construction unit was forced to build a road for vehicles carrying materials to enter. “When we learned about this, the commune also asked the construction unit not to dig up soil at the relic site to build a road, but they still did not listen. On February 15, they started using excavators to dig up soil and rocks, and on February 28, the commune discovered and stopped the work,” Mr. Quyen said, adding that the amount of soil and rocks removed from the relic site was about 300 cubic meters.

Regarding this incident, on March 5, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also sent a document to the People's Committee of Dien Chau district. This document stated that the Department of Natural Resources and Environment received information from citizens reflecting the illegal mining situation at Hai Vai but the authorities at all levels have not checked and handled it promptly.

Based on the assigned functions and tasks, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment requests the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Chau district to organize a field inspection and handle illegal mineral exploitation activities in the Hai Vai area (if any) according to the provisions of law and directive documents of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee. In addition, the People's Committee of Dien Chau district needs to request departments and People's Committees of communes to focus on reviewing and handling illegal mineral exploitation activities in the area and handle them in accordance with current legal regulations.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment also requested the People's Committee of Dien Chau district to resolutely discipline groups and individuals who cover up or avoid the task of handling illegal mineral exploitation activities (if any); Coordinate with the Dien Chau District Police to inspect, verify, clarify and handle illegal mineral exploitation in the area. Establish a Team to inspect compliance with the law in mineral activities for organizations licensed to exploit minerals in the area according to the direction of the Party Committee of the Provincial People's Committee in Notice No. 51-TB/BCS dated February 20, 2023 and Official Dispatch No. 9374/UBND-NN dated November 2, 2023 of the Provincial People's Committee.

Forgotten relic?

Len Hai Vai is a natural rock block 800 m long, 120 m widest point, 141 m high. Since 1964, archaeologists have discovered fossilized human bones, some stone tools and many ceramic jars here. This discovery proves that Len Hai Vai was once a place where primitive people lived. Len Hai Vai has a quite unique structure, with a shape true to its name. This is also a place associated with many sacred and mysterious legends and stories that have been passed down from generation to generation by local people.

Previously, this area was a dense, wild forest. On the cliff there were many deep caves, with strangely shaped stalactites. According to local people, Confucian scholars used to come here to relax and study literature. During the Nguyen Dynasty, Hai Vai cliff was the uprising base of Nguyen Xuan On. During the 1930-1931; 1936-1939 periods, Hai Vai cliff was the place where Party documents were printed, and where the masses gathered for rallies and demonstrations. During the 1939-1945 period, this became a place for military training and weapons storage for uprisings to seize power...

However, in the 80s of the last century, the cliff was massively exploited by surrounding people. “Back then, every day hundreds of people brought dynamite to blast rocks. Just like that, Hai Vai cliff was cut away a lot, causing its shape to become distorted. It no longer clearly resembles a person’s shoulders like in the past,” said Mr. Nguyen Trung Hoang (72 years old, a resident of Minh Chau commune).

In 1994, Hai Vai was recognized as a National Historical Relic. Local people thought that after being classified as a national relic, the relic would be protected and restored. However, 30 years later, Hai Vai still has no markers to protect it. That is why this relic is often excavated to steal soil and rocks. For many years, this area has even become a garbage dump.

According to the reporter's records, the first place when stepping on Hai Vai cliff is a pile of garbage, emitting a foul smell. Next to the location where the 500KV power line construction unit had just dug up to build a road, there were also old deep holes, previously secretly exploited by local people. In addition, there were many traces of excavators leveling the land to plant cajuput trees just a few days ago. According to the leader of Minh Chau commune, planting cajuput trees on the relic land was contracted by the commune with security guards.

After receiving information reflecting the encroachment of the Hai Vai National Historical Relic, he went directly to the scene to inspect. Currently, we are building a report to advise the Provincial People's Committee for direction. Currently, the unit is also planning to deploy zoning and marking to protect this historical relic in 2024.

Mr. Le Khac Hoang - Chief Inspector of Department of Culture and Sports

“During the inspection, we also requested the commune to increase tree planting at Hai Vai cliff. Recently, the commune had a contract to protect and use machinery to dig rocks to plant cajuput trees, but we suggested not to do so. Because planting cajuput trees will cause forest fires and greatly affect the relic. Trees must be planted for a long time. In addition to the location that the enterprise has just dug up to build a power line, we are also comparing coordinates to check whether the road running along the cliff foot encroaches on this relic or not,” Mr. Hoang added.

After receiving the feedback, the district requested Minh Chau commune to report. Currently, the district People's Committee has also established a team to inspect this incident.

Mr. Le Manh Hien - Vice Chairman of Dien Chau District People's Committee