The natural, wild beauty of the “green pearl” Lan Chau has long been conveyed through many articles, a favorite topic of the literary and artistic community; at the same time, it is also the focus of tourism websites when introducing Nghe An.
In those articles, people praised: “Cua Lo is famous for having many beautiful islands of Nghe An. But the name Lan Chau island always creates a strong attraction for domestic and foreign tourists because of its beautiful location, unique terrain, bringing you many interesting things…”. There are detailed descriptions such as: “Lan Chau island separates Cua Lo beach into 2 separate areas. The western part will connect to the mainland, while the eastern part is steep cliffs, stretching towards the sea. These cliffs have unique and attractive shapes due to the erosion of wind and waves. In particular, when the tide rises, the foot of the island will sink below the water surface. At this time, you will encounter the scene of the island separating from the mainland and floating on the water, creating a beautiful scene that is difficult to describe in words”. Or: “Lan Chau is a pristine island, not much affected by humans. Therefore, this place still retains its natural beauty, rustic, simple but full of charm. Like the beauty of Nghe An girls, gentle, graceful, bringing peace and relaxation. Coming to Lan Chau island, diners will be able to immerse themselves in the sea breeze, clouds and sky; admire the beautiful scenery everywhere, making you not want to leave…”.
But coming to Lan Chau Island at this time, it seems that the beautiful words for the "green pearl" are no longer suitable. Because right from the road leading to the island, one can see the negative impacts. The northern beach on the route to the island, which was originally a very gentle and beautiful beach, and also a fishing boat dock, now has a long embankment system that extends close to the island, built clumsily with common materials such as cement, sand, stone, etc., which is very unsightly. Connected to the embankment, close to the island, there is a restaurant with a fairly large construction area that spills out into the sea. To have more space to build a restaurant, at this location, people built a sea embankment, causing the previously beautiful rocky outcrops on the water surface to disappear.
There have also been new construction activities on the island's coastal road, from the restaurant to the wharf. The road surface is paved with cement concrete in some places, and with gray and red terrazzo tiles in others; at the same time, some railing systems have been built or installed. These construction activities are generally quite sloppy, lacking uniformity, and the materials used are not suitable in both quality and color. Also on the road to the wharf, there is an elevator block about 15m high, and a fairly wide road leading back to the restaurant on the island. These two projects were probably built with only their functionality in mind, forgetting the task of beautifying Lan Chau's scenic spot, so they also have negative impacts.
During our field trip across the entire Lan Chau island, we also used a flycam to get a more panoramic view. We found that the two areas with the Nghinh Phong pavilion, the Tien tomb, and the rocky beaches in the East and South of the island were still intact, without any impact from construction activities. The remaining area, the area where the restaurant was built on the island, because most of the area had been used as a restaurant and auxiliary works such as yards, roads, etc., had been concreted and changed in shape; the wild natural beauty was thus being destroyed...
According to the managers of Cua Lo town, in March 2014, Lan Chau island was included in the planning of the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism, Resort Villa, Sports and Entertainment Complex Project, invested by Song Ngu Son Joint Stock Company. With the goal of "building Lan Chau island into a unique coastal tourist area, a high-class coastal resort", the project was approved by the Provincial People's Committee with a total area of 14.8758 hectares (including 8.52 hectares of water surface). On the investor side, the project is committed to implementing with a total investment capital of 495 billion VND.
Managers also said that the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism, Resort Villa, Sports and Entertainment Complex Project has main items such as Hotel and Resort Villa Area (area of 1.24ha); Square and Parking Lot Area (area of 0.7475ha); Mountain View and Tourist Restaurant Area (area of 0.98ha); Operations Center Area (area of 0.08ha); Bungalow Area (area of 0.29ha); Marina Area (area of 0.19ha); Beach Area (area of 1.49ha)... Regarding the project implementation progress recorded in the investment certificate, it will be completed and put into operation in 2020. To date, the project has completed the items of a 9-storey hotel and restaurant; Security guard house; Parking lot and embankment, road leading to Lan Chau Island; Restaurant on Lan Chau Island; Office building; Swimming pool and service bar. Unfinished items include welcome gate; Massage area, staff housing; Resort villa area (5 villas); Seafood restaurant; Generator house, staff garage, generator house, water pumping station, hotel entrance; Resort bungalow (11 villas); Marina renovation.
But even though the project is behind schedule, these managers bitterly commented that the investor's delay in implementing some construction items such as the resort villa area, Bungalows... may be a blessing for Lan Chau Island and Cua Lo Beach! As one person confided: "11 Bungalows are located in the South of the island, where there are beautiful rocky beaches, where tourists often come to check-in. With the investor's investment and construction style, if they implement Bungalow projects, I'm afraid they will destroy the natural beauty of the South of the island...".
These managers also said that the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism, Resort, Sports and Entertainment Complex Project also has shortcomings, the most critical of which is the construction of works contrary to the planning approved by competent authorities. Specifically, the sea dike system in front of the hotel was invested and built according to the current status, not in accordance with the approved planning, concrete was poured to make a walking path with a width of about 3m in the sea dike area; the renovation and construction of the restaurant on the west side of Lan Chau island is contrary to the planning; the road connecting the mainland to Lan Chau island according to the planning drawings is a paved road, but the current status is a concrete road; the elevator project to the restaurant on Lan Chau island is not in accordance with the approved planning...
Requesting to see the planning drawings of the project, I only saw a single route to the restaurant on Lan Chau Island. This route, the entrance starts from the side of the office building, connecting to the road to Tien's tomb, Nghinh Phong tower. I was puzzled and asked a responsible management officer, in the planning there was no route connecting to the road to the wharf to go to the restaurant on the island, why did the investor build this route? The officer asked confirmed that in the detailed construction planning drawings 1/500 of the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism Complex Project, resort villas, sports, entertainment of various periods that the Town People's Committee kept, there was no such route...
The collection of related documents shows that from November 2015 to October 2019, the investor of the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism Complex, Resort Villas, Sports, and Entertainment Project was fined 5 times. Of which, on November 18, 2015, the Urban Order Management Team presided over and coordinated with the People's Committee of Nghi Thuy Ward to make a record of violation for using construction solid waste to fill the road to Lan Chau Island. On April 19, 2018, the Urban Order Management Team presided over and coordinated with the People's Committee of Nghi Thuy Ward to make a record of violation for organizing the expansion of the restaurant project on the west side of Lan Chau Island with a size of 6x28m. On April 22, 2018, the Urban Order Management Team, in coordination with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Nghi Thuy Ward, drew up a record of violation for organizing the excavation of beach sand to level the ground inside the northern embankment of the project. On April 2, 2019, the Urban Order Management Team, in coordination with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Urban Management Department, drew up a record of violation for organizing the construction of a 70m long sea embankment that violated the approved planning and excavation of beach sand to level the ground inside the embankment. And finally, on October 15, 2019, the Urban Order Management Team, in coordination with the People's Committee of Nghi Thuy Ward, drew up a record of violation for organizing the construction of a 1.2m x 1.2m, 16m high elevator block leading to the restaurant on Lan Chau Island that violated the approved planning.
For violations such as illegal construction, violating planning approved by competent authorities, according to the provisions of law, all must be handled in the form of fines and remedial measures in the direction of forcing the demolition of illegal constructions... However, in this project, the violations have only been recorded as warnings. The reason, as an officer when asked discussed, is that the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism Complex, Resort Villas, Sports, and Entertainment Project is a project attracting investment in the province, so there is a situation of "reluctance to touch"; besides, looking at Cua Lo town in the previous period, the state management of land and construction was still lax...
Question: It was like that before, but what will Cua Lo town do now to preserve the scenic beauty of Lan Chau island and ensure the project's goal of "building Lan Chau island into a unique coastal tourist area, a high-class coastal resort"? The answer is that in August 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Document No. 6179/UBND-CN on the inspection and handling of slow-progressing projects in the area, stating that this project is on the list of projects that have built most of the items and works, and assigned the Town People's Committee to monitor and urge investors to focus on completing the project. Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, since then, the Town Party Committee and the Town People's Committee have organized working sessions with investors to evaluate the investment work and urge project progress.
In February 2023, the Town People's Committee received Document No. 256/SKHĐT-DN from the Department of Planning and Investment requesting a review of projects that are behind schedule and not being implemented in the area. After the review, the Town People's Committee included the Lan Chau - Song Ngu Eco-tourism, Resort, Sports and Entertainment Complex Project in the list of projects proposed for the Department of Planning and Investment to supplement inspection in 2023. Currently, the Town People's Committee is preparing a report on the project implementation status to report to the superior agency. In the report, it is expected to recommend that the competent authorities of the province inspect and adjust the planning to prevent the investor from implementing some construction items that risk destroying the landscape of Lan Chau island; in addition, handle in accordance with legal regulations for some construction works that violate construction order and planning!