Investigation of ornamental stone exploitation in Quy Hop district

On May 24, a leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district said that the district had just requested the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to organize a review and clarify the responsibilities of related individuals after the illegal mining occurred in the area. In addition, the People's Committee of the district also directed the People's Committee of Ha Son commune and the Ha Son commune police to coordinate with the police of Quy Hop district and specialized departments of the People's Committee of the district to investigate and verify the violators and violations to have enough basis to handle the case in accordance with the provisions of law.

This move took place after the press reported on the illegal exploitation of ornamental stones in Ha Son commune. The leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district said that on May 7, immediately after receiving the report on illegal exploitation of minerals (ornamental stones) in Ha Son commune, the leader of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to conduct inspection and verification.

The excavated ornamental rocks are still piled up at the scene. Photo: TH

The results showed that the reflection was well-founded. At the scene, there were dozens of "orphaned" rocks that had been dug up from the ground before, the excavated area was about 2000 m2.²However, at the time of inspection, there were no vehicles or violators. Because the excavated area was far from residential areas, verifying the violators was very difficult, so it was not possible.

After the inspection, the District People's Committee directed the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to specifically count the amount of stone that had been exploited. At the same time, protect the scene, absolutely not allowing the subjects to disperse the above stones. Along with that, check, verify, clarify the time of occurrence; the violator; the land user at the location of the excavation.

On May 12, the working delegation of the District People's Committee, including leaders of the District People's Committee, District Police, Departments of Natural Resources - Environment, Economy - Infrastructure, and Justice, continued to inspect the scene and work with the Party Committee and People's Committee of Ha Son commune to direct the verification and handling of the case.

Through the actual inspection and opinions at the working session, the District People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to direct relevant departments and the Commune Police to verify and clarify the origin of land use; take statements from the land plot owner and violators, clearly identify the violation, specifically measure the volume of excavated rocks at the scene... Review and clarify the state management responsibilities of the collective and individuals assigned by the Commune People's Committee for minerals, and take measures to prevent the subjects from dispersing rocks from the scene.

Many large rocks have not been scooped up yet. Photo: TH

After receiving the direction of the District People's Committee, the People's Committee of Ha Son commune held a meeting and seriously reviewed and clarified the responsibilities of the Chairman of the People's Committee, the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee in charge, the Chief of the Commune Police, and the Commune Land Official in letting the incident happen without timely detecting and handling it. At the same time, the Commune Police directed the Commune Police to urgently investigate, verify, and take statements from relevant individuals.

According to the report of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune, the excavated location is on a plot of land larger than 7,600m2.²reclaimed and used for agricultural purposes by Mr. Hoang Van Luc (Con To hamlet, Ha Son commune) since 2000 until now, without being granted a land use right certificate. The volume of rock at the scene is about more than 80m³.

“Mr. Hoang Van Luc confessed that from April 30 to May 2, 2023, he hired an excavator to level and dig up orphaned rocks from the ground for the purpose of improving the land for planting trees, but did not report and ask for permission from the competent authority as prescribed. The excavated rocks are being gathered at the scene and have not been transported out of the land plot,” the report of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune stated.

Regarding the rocks left at the scene as well as the entire area where the excavation took place, the District People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to preside over and coordinate with the specialized departments of the District People's Committee and relevant units to develop a plan and assign patrol forces to guard, ensure the scene is kept intact, continue to investigate, verify and clarify violations for strict handling according to the provisions of law.