Overcoming shortcomings, speeding up dredging progress of Lach Con

Quickly fix the problem

Explaining why the enterprise scooped up sand near the foot of the dike, Mr. Phan The Huy - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Phuong Ward, said: During the survey and design process of the Project "Urgently overcome coastal erosion and fill the river mouth in Lach Con, Quynh Lap and Quynh Phuong communes, Hoang Mai town" invested by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An, the construction unit asked the People's Committee of Quynh Phuong Ward to borrow a site near the dike in Hong Hai block to dump the waste sand sucked from the river and creek. The locality found it appropriate, because that sandbank area had been left abandoned for a long time, so they agreed.

Since 2019, the construction unit has dumped waste sand on the borrowed area, but has excavated some waste area (in the form of digging shrimp ponds) to store waste sand as a transit point.

After receiving feedback from the people about the above situation, the Quynh Phuong ward authorities invited representatives: the Dike Project Management Board - Irrigation Sub-Department, the Quynh Phuong ward People's Committee, and the construction unit (Minh Quang Company Limited) to meet to discuss ways to overcome the shortcomings.

Construction unit completing the ground clearance at the waste sand dump in Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town. Photo: Cong Phuong

At this meeting, Minh Quang Company Limited committed to restore the original site of the landfill and implement the dredging scope according to the decisions approved by the competent authority. That is, it committed to coordinate with relevant agencies to organize the marking of the construction scope according to the approved design in the field; coordinate with local authorities to publicize information about the scope, time and scale of the project so that people know, creating conditions for project implementation to ensure progress; coordinate with the People's Committee of Quynh Phuong Ward and representatives of the people to supervise during the project implementation.

We were present at the site of the Hong Hai block sand waste dump, Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town. After local people reported the situation of enterprises dredging sand close to the sea dike, by July 16, 2020, the construction unit had restored the site to its original state, marked the dredging area in the field and fixed some problems related to the project.

Speed ​​up the progress of dredging the waterway

Through research, it is known that Lach Con area in Quynh Lap commune and Quynh Phuong ward (Hoang Mai town) is not only a place for Hoang Mai fishermen to anchor their boats but also a place to take shelter from storms, exchange goods, and fishery logistics for many localities in the province and boats from other provinces. The number of boats coming to take shelter from storms is up to over 1,000.

Faced with the silted channel making it difficult for ships to enter and exit the port, many ship owners have been forced to switch to docking at Lach Quen (Quynh Luu) and Lach Hoi (Cua Hoi) ports, and even have to take shelter from storms at Thanh Hoa ports... causing the cost of each trip to the sea for fishermen to increase. Not to mention, many fishermen really want to invest in building large ships with large engines, especially since the State has a policy to support fishermen in building ships for offshore fishing and exploiting high-value seafood species. However, because the silted channel has not met the requirements, they have had to give up their intention.

Boats crowded together at Lach Con Fishing Port. Photo: Cong Phuong

Fishermen here hope that the State will have a support plan to soon dredge Lach Con estuary to resolve the sedimentation situation, creating favorable conditions for fishermen to enter and exit the port, especially during the upcoming rainy and stormy season.

In response to the urgent need to quickly dredge the channel to serve ships entering and exiting and to safely shelter from storms, on November 6, 2019, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision No. 4596-QD/UBND approving the project to overcome coastal erosion and silting the river mouth in Lach Con in Quynh Lap commune and Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town, invested by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An. The project will dredge more than 2 km from the sea mouth into Lach Con with a total investment of 20 billion VND.

The goal of this project is to ensure flood drainage for Hoang Mai River and 675 boats (including 450 boats with capacity of 150CV or more) to enter and exit to fish and take shelter from storms through Lach Con estuary. The implementation progress from 2019 to 2020 will be completed and put into use.
Next, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 1331/QD-UBND dated April 28, 2020 on "approving the value of mineral exploitation rights fees" for sand for filling (including saline) recovered during dredging at Lach Con for Minh Quang Company Limited. The value of the mineral exploitation rights fee is 63,000 VND/m3 for sand for filling material (saline sand). The total amount of mining rights fees to be paid is over 262 million VND.

Many sections of Lach Con River are silted up, making it difficult for boats to enter and exit. Photo: Cong Phuong

In addition to the work of reclaiming the site of the waste sand dump and overcoming some other problems, we are mobilizing machinery and equipment to carry out the next steps to ensure the project progress as committed by the contractor to the investor, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Provincial People's Committee. Strive to complete the important items of the project before the rainy season to serve ships to safely take shelter from storms.

Mr. Le Quang Huy - Director of Minh Quang Company Limited

Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh - Head of the Irrigation Sub-Department added: Immediately after the meeting between the relevant parties, the construction unit immediately deployed the landfill reclamation work. This is an important dredging and filling project of the Lach Con estuary of the province. The investor regularly supervises, inspects and urges the construction unit to ensure quality as well as progress to keep the waterway clear before the rainy season to serve fishing boats.

The project to overcome coastal erosion and estuary sedimentation in Lach Con in Quynh Lap commune and Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town is very urgent, helping fishing boats to enter and exit more conveniently, especially to safely avoid storms during the rainy season. Therefore, after overcoming the above shortcomings, the construction unit as well as the investor hope that people will agree to support the construction project to ensure quality and progress so that it can be put into effective use soon./.