It's not just about sand thieves: There's negligence and lack of responsibility.

Not just a matter of sand thieves: A persistent problem

(Baonghean) - Over the past few years, the inspection and handling of violations of the law in sand and gravel mining on rivers has been continuously strengthened. However, "sand bandits" still persist...

The incident of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts being criticized by the Provincial People's Committee is shown in Official Dispatches No. 4684/UBND-NC and 4685/UBND-NC dated June 23, 2018. The reason is because of not seriously implementing Official Dispatch No. 2302/UBND-NC dated April 11, 2018 of the Provincial People's Committee.

Official dispatch No. 4684/UBND-NC and 4685/UBND-NC dated June 23, 2018 of the Provincial People's Committee criticizing the two Chairmen of the People's Committees of Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts. Photo: Nhat Lan

Specifically, in Official Dispatch 2302, the Provincial People's Committee requested the People's Committee of Nam Dan district and the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen to "direct the completion of the administrative violation case file and issue a decision to sanction administrative violations against violating organizations and individuals; draw up a record of suspension of operations, assign responsibility to violating organizations and individuals to stop operations due to lack of an inland waterway terminal operation license; organize a review by the Chairmen of the People's Committees of relevant communes and towns in allowing the terminals to operate or re-operate without being granted an inland waterway terminal operation license by a competent authority...".

For many years, sand bandits have caused many consequences for people living on both banks of the river. In the photo, a residential area along the Lam River reported the situation of sand bandits causing landslides and subsidence of their production land to Nghe An Newspaper reporters in January 2018. Photo: Phuong Thao.

However, through the monitoring of the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Department of Transport, up to now, the People's Committee of Nam Dan district and the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district have not yet implemented the above content. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee criticized the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan district and the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district for "not seriously implementing Official Dispatch No. 2302/UBND-NC dated April 11, 2018 of the Provincial People's Committee"; at the same time, requested the People's Committee of Nam Dan district and the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district to seriously learn from experience and make corrections.

So what is the content of the inspection results of law enforcement on mineral activities in Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts that the districts did not implement, leading to the Provincial People's Committee having to issue a written criticism?

Following the Official Dispatch No. 2302/UBND-NC, we were able to approach the members of the Inter-sectoral Working Group established by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Decision No. 784/QD-STNMThoi in December 2017, to receive information, documents, and stories during the implementation of their duties. And, all the "tricks" of sand and gravel exploitation and trading activities in the riverbeds in the districts where Lam River flows through were revealed very clearly.

Not only the people are upset. Even the officials of the province's inter-sectoral working group, after the inspection and handling of violations, are also very dissatisfied, because there are signs of laxity in state management. In the photo is Colonel Chu Minh Tien, former Head of the inter-sectoral group established under Decision 5445/UBND-DC of the Provincial People's Committee, talking to reporters of Nghe An Newspaper right at an illegal sand and gravel gathering site right next to Yen Xuan bridge embankment. Photo: Viet Long.

After more than 3 months of working, the Interdisciplinary Working Group has clarified the nooks and crannies of sand and gravel trading at 44 sand and gravel gathering and trading wharves in Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan and Thanh Chuong districts. For 9 wharves with Inland Waterway Wharf Operation Licenses, there is one inland waterwharf whose land was leased by the commune-level authority without authority; 4 wharves do not have environmental procedures according to regulations; 3 wharves trade sand and gravel of unknown origin.

As for the 35 inland waterway wharves that do business in gathering sand and gravel that were inspected and did not have an Inland Waterway Wharf License, 25 wharves had their investment policy approved by the Provincial People's Committee, but did not have a land lease contract; the remaining 10 wharves did not have an investment policy. For all 35 wharves, the interdisciplinary team established in Decision No. 5445/QD-UBND-NC dated November 23, 2015, the Provincial People's Committee suspended and sealed their operations, but now they are operating normally!

Through the investigation of the working groups, sand and gravel at illegal gathering sites, often sand of unknown origin, are then legalized by invoices from licensed units and businesses. And this is one of the reasons sand bandits exist. Photo: Nhat Lan

Checking the origin of sand and gravel at these 35 wharves, only 5 wharves have warehouse receipts proving the origin of the sand, but there are no invoices or documents from the mining unit. The remaining 30 wharves trade in sand and gravel of unknown origin. The total volume of sand and gravel traded through the wharves declared for tax in 2017 is 1,163,024 m3 (Thanh Chuong: 135,859 m3, Nam Dan 332,377 m3, Hung Nguyen 469,153 m3, Vinh City 225,635 m3).

From here, the Working Group affirmed that the situation of law violations in sand and gravel exploitation activities on the inspection route is still complicated, specifically the situation of wharves without an Inland Waterway Wharf License (or having one but it has been revoked) even though they have been suspended, sealed, and handed over clean areas to local management but continue to operate again.

The situation of buying and selling sand and gravel at inland waterway ports of unknown origin is still going on. Some ports import sand (buy sand) of unknown origin, which is the main reason for the continued illegal mining situation. In addition, boats operating on the river are not registered, inspected, have unclear inspection license plates; boats are equipped with illegal mining equipment (sand suction machines), which are the means for "sand bandits" to conduct illegal mineral mining activities.

Sand thieves caused riverbank erosion in Thanh Giang commune, Thanh Chuong district in April 2018. Photo: Zen Da

The working group recommended that the competent authority direct the Tax sector to collect additional taxes; assign the People's Committees of Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, and Hung Nguyen districts to draw up records of administrative violations and impose administrative penalties for the act of putting inland waterway terminals into operation without an inland waterway terminal operating license; suspend all operations of 35 terminals without an inland waterway terminal operating license. At the same time, organize a review of the responsibilities of the Chairmen of the People's Committees of relevant communes, wards, and towns in allowing the terminals to operate and re-operate.

Regarding the responsibility of state management in the field of minerals of local authorities, there is still negligence and delay. Therefore, through the inspection and control work of the interdisciplinary inspection teams, the interdisciplinary inspection team has recommended that the Provincial People's Committee direct the People's Committees of Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, and Hung Nguyen districts to organize a review and clarify the responsibilities of 23 Chairmen of the People's Committees of communes, wards, and towns involved in allowing the illegal opening of wharfs to recur after the inspection teams handed over clean land (Thanh Chuong has 14 communes, Nam Dan has 6 communes, Hung Nguyen has 03 communes). On April 11, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 2302/UBND-NC, which clearly directed this content.

To prevent sand bandits, some residents in Thanh Tien commune (Thanh Chuong) have formed groups to chase away sand bandits, or built bamboo fences on the river to prevent sand dredging ships. Photo: Nhat Lan

Regarding the Provincial People's Committee's criticism of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen districts, according to the Working Group, through inspection, only the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district has reviewed the responsibilities of 14 related communes, and at the same time effectively prevented illegal exploitation. The People's Committee of Nam Dan district has not yet organized a review of the 6 related communes, but reported: "Currently, the District Police Department is investigating and prosecuting 14 boat owners of Lam Son Dai Thanh Cooperative related to illegal sand exploitation in Nam Thuong commune. After receiving the results of the investigation, the District People's Committee will handle the responsibilities of the relevant collectives and individuals according to regulations".

The People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district has not yet organized a review of the three related communes, has not resolutely handled illegal exploitation, and has not reported the implementation results in a timely manner. Therefore, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee issue a warning.

Despite the time and effort it takes, sand bandits are still a complex problem that cannot be completely resolved. Photo: Zen Da

Because in Official Dispatches No. 4684/UBND-NC and 4685/UBND-NC, the Provincial People's Committee stated that in addition to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment "monitoring" the issues of handling and inspecting the exploitation and trading of sand and gravel in riverbeds, there is also the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee and the Department of Transport and Communications. Therefore, we have also had working sessions with responsible people in this place.

What was discussed was that violations of the law in sand and gravel exploitation and business continued to recur, while the authorities of these two localities showed negligence and lack of interest in implementing the instructions of superiors. From this reality, the Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee and the Department of Transport issued a document requesting the Provincial People's Committee to continue to pay attention and remind.

(to be continued)

On June 2, 2018, the Government Office issued Document No. 4001/VPCP-NC on violations in the fields of sand and gravel mining, forest management and protection, and agricultural land management and use. Document 4001 clearly stated the direction of the Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh requesting provinces and cities, including Nghe An province, to organize reviews, clarify responsibilities, and strictly handle violations of relevant organizations and individuals that have caused the complicated situation of illegal sand and gravel mining, causing public outrage in the recent past; take measures to rectify, prevent, and stop illegal sand and gravel mining from recurring.