A series of violations at sand mining enterprises in Nghe An

Check to where, detect violations there

Regarding the illegal sand dumping site right under Phu Son bridge (Phu Son commune, Tan Ky district), of Nam Ha Construction and Trading Joint Stock Company.Nghe An Newspaper once had an article reflecting, at the end of December 2023, a leader of the People's Committee of Tan Ky district said that the locality had issued 4 decisions to sanction administrative violations against this company, with a total fine of nearly 70 million VND. Of which, the act of occupying 600m2 of agricultural land to illegally gather sand was fined 15 million VND.

In addition, this sand mining company also committed many other violations such as: Not having a vehicle registration certificate as prescribed; putting converted vehicles into operation without inspection; not organizing safety and occupational hygiene training for workers; and issuing invoices at the wrong time.

This is not the only sand mining enterprise that has been fined this time. According to the leader of Tan Ky District People's Committee, there are currently 16 licensed sand and gravel mining enterprises in the district. However, because 1 enterprise has just stopped operating and 1 enterprise has just been inspected by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the District People's Committee has recently established an interdisciplinary team to inspect the sand and gravel mining activities of the remaining 14 enterprises. "The inspection results show that all enterprises have violated the law," said the leader of the District People's Committee. After the inspection, in just 1 day, the Chairman of Tan Ky District People's Committee issued 44 decisions to sanction administrative violations against these 14 enterprises, with a total fine of more than 1 billion VND.

Violations occurred in many areas. Accordingly, regarding land lease for mineral activities, 7 enterprises encroached on land to use as a staging area and operating house without completing land lease procedures; 2 enterprises did not carry out the initial land registration procedures for the mining area.

Regarding labor safety, 4 enterprises did not register labor regulations according to the provisions of law; 1 enterprise did not declare when putting into use machines, equipment, and materials with strict requirements on labor safety; 5 enterprises did not organize labor safety and hygiene training for employees according to the provisions of law; 1 enterprise did not implement labor protection regimes and did not organize annual health check-ups for employees; 1 enterprise did not develop an annual labor safety and hygiene plan; did not establish an organization for labor safety and hygiene, a medical department; 1 enterprise did not develop a plan, regulations, and procedures to ensure labor safety and hygiene at the workplace.

Regarding tax law compliance, up to 9 businesses issued invoices at the wrong time.

In particular, regarding the operating procedures, all 14 enterprises violated regulations in the field of inland waterway ports. Specifically, they did not register their operating vehicles; did not re-inspecte their vehicles; put converted vehicles into operation and operated without inspection; did not have a written agreement from a competent authority before constructing, renovating and upgrading inland waterway ports; assigned people who did not meet the health and age requirements, did not have a certificate of professional competence, or a certificate of professional qualification in accordance with regulations to operate and work on vehicles.

“After the inspection results, the District People's Committee issued a notice to the enterprises, assigning the units to remedy the existing problems before January 30, 2024; at the same time, assigning relevant departments and units to regularly inspect, urge and supervise the overcoming of the existing problems of the enterprises,” the leader of Tan Ky district added.

Need to strengthen management

Tan Ky has long been known as the “sand capital” of Nghe An. The Hieu River flows through this district for about 60km, providing an abundant source of sand. 16 sand and gravel mining enterprises are licensed on this river. Each year, more than 400,000m3 are mined. Sand and gravel in Tan Ky district are of high value in the construction of infrastructure projects, because the grains are even, beautiful and highly clean. However, the situation of massive and chaotic mining has existed for many years.

In Duong Hap hamlet (Nghia Dung commune), recently, many hectares of agricultural land of local people have been washed away into the riverbed, causing many households to suddenly lose their land for production. According to local people, this situation appeared when the Hieu river section through this area was over-exploited for sand, many barges even regularly dredged sand near the shore. The local government then asked the enterprise to suspend exploitation for 1 month to remedy the consequences by filling up the riverbank, then planting bamboo stakes and weaving bamboo panels to prevent landslides. This area is a sand mine licensed for exploitation by Thai Cuc Limited Company. This enterprise was also fined a total of nearly 70 million VND for 3 violations.

In addition, the sand mining enterprises that were fined this time include Vu Truong Giang Construction Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, which was fined 53 million VND; Hong Bao Ngoc Limited Liability Company, which was fined 63 million VND; Hoang Hai Limited Liability Company, which was fined 120 million VND; Cuong Hoa Limited Liability Company, which was fined 43 million VND; Hung Tien Limited Liability Company and Phuong Hoang Construction Materials Limited Liability Company, which were both fined 48 million VND; Thanh Phat Nghe An Limited Liability Company and Duc Hoang Construction Materials Limited Liability Company, which were both fined 125 million VND; Viet Hoang Trading and Service Company, which was fined 69 million VND; Duc Anh Linh Limited Liability Company, which was fined 87 million VND; Dat Anh Limited Liability Company, which was fined 72 million VND; Tam Tai Construction Joint Stock Company, which was fined 74 million VND.

According to the leader of Tan Ky District People's Committee, after the fines were imposed, the enterprises and localities also issued documents, requesting relevant departments and People's Committees of communes and towns to strengthen inspection and supervision of law enforcement at mineral exploitation enterprises. Along with that, promptly prevent illegal mineral exploitation activities, detect and handle them promptly according to authority. Strictly manage mineral resources in the area. Carry out clearance and prevent illegal mineral exploitation activities immediately after detection. In case of prolonged illegal exploitation without handling measures, the Chairman of the Commune and Town People's Committee must take full responsibility before the Chairman of the District People's Committee and before the law...