Suffering because of... ore!

(Baonghean)For several years now, the people of Chau Thanh commune (Quy Hop district) have had roads to develop their economy. However, this commune, classified as a "Region 135" (a disadvantaged area), is also grappling with environmental pollution caused by tin mining and ore processing activities.

Mining takes place in Chau Thanh commune (Quy Hop district).

Along the Nặm Dôn stream in Chăm Hiêng hamlet (Châu Thành district, Quỳ Hợp province), for generations, the villagers have relied solely on the rice paddies within their village for sustenance. Like many other villagers, Vi Thị Thanh's family owns a small plot of rice paddies to ensure a stable food supply. However, since tin mining activities began upstream nearly 10 years ago, the stream has become constantly muddy and unusable for irrigating the fields. Irrigation water must now come from another source, trickling in, and largely depends on rainwater. In years with abundant rain, the rice harvest is bountiful; in years with little rain, yields plummet. In some cases, the rice plants wither and die before the grains even ripen.

Not only were the rice fields affected, but since the stream became polluted, the well water at Ms. Thanh's family home also had an unpleasant odor and had to be discarded. To get water, Ms. Thanh's family had to lay a pipe more than half a kilometer long from the mountain to their house. According to Ms. Thanh, since mining activities began in the area, the lives of the local people have been disrupted due to severe water pollution!

According to Mr. Vi Dinh Chien, head of Trung Thanh hamlet in Chau Thanh commune, the entire hamlet has 9 hectares of rice paddies that were leased from the villagers by the Ban Co Tin Mining Enterprise for a period of 5 years. The enterprise is obligated to return the land to the villagers for production. However, the 5-year period has expired, and many areas have yet to be returned. Tin mining activities not only pollute the water source but also alter the stream's flow. Mr. Ha Van Quang, a resident of Trung Thanh hamlet, said: The change in the stream's flow has caused the rice paddies of families near the stream to be buried under mud and rocks by floods during the rainy season. Mr. Quang's family alone has 980 square meters of land.²The rice paddies, which were granted land ownership certificates, have been submerged for the past five years. Now, even a moderate rain shower causes mud from the mining site to flood into the villagers' rice fields.

According to our investigation in Trung Thanh hamlet, Tien Thanh commune, the local people are partly to blame for the water pollution. Along with the mining activities of the enterprise, during their leisure time, people also go to the mining sites to pan for ore. It is known that each kilogram of tin ore panned by the villagers is worth 220,000 VND. This price is quite high, but it's not easy to earn because the villagers mainly "scavenge" the leftover ore from the mining operations using excavators. After the farming season, not knowing what else to do, many people go down to the stream to pan for ore. These activities are also contributing to water pollution. According to Mr. Vi Dinh Chien, head of Trung Thanh hamlet, some households only see the short-term profit when they ask the management board to allow the mining enterprise to continue leasing their land for ore mining. With this method, some households earn tens of millions of dong, but in the long run, they will face difficulties as they will be without land for production for a long period, at least 5 years, before the tin mining company returns the land. The land reclaimed by the mining company cannot be used for production immediately and requires time for reclamation. In addition, in Trung Thanh hamlet, there is an iron ore processing plant operating right next to residential houses, causing noise pollution and water contamination.

Speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Mr. Ha Dang Ninh, Vice Chairman of the Chau Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: The commune has over 4,200 inhabitants, divided into 9 hamlets in a particularly difficult area. Since 2011, the provincial road from Chau Thanh to Chau Thon (Que Phong) has been completed, helping to improve the lives of the people. Several businesses operate in the commune, including the Ban Co Tin Mining Enterprise. However, during its operation, this enterprise has polluted the water source, negatively impacting the lives of people living along the stream. The commune has previously imposed administrative penalties on this enterprise for its violations. Furthermore, the enterprise's slow progress in returning the land has led the commune authorities to temporarily halt the expansion of the mining area within the 50 hectares designated for mining in the commune. Mr. Ninh stated that the authorities will only allow the Ban Co enterprise to continue expanding the mining area once it completes the land return process for the people to use for production.

Huu Vi