Part 1: "Sand bandits" run rampant

(Baonghean) -In recent times, sand and gravel exploitation in the province has been taking place massively and openly, causing landslides on many banks of Lam River, Hieu River, and Con River, affecting the safety of many important works and dikes. This situation has been going on for many years but there has been almost no inspection or control by the authorities, causing public outrage.

Standing from the Nam Dan culvert, looking out to the Lam river bank, you can see dark iron ships with their bellies full of sand returning to the dock to dump sand. Right at the foot of Nam Dan bridge is a giant sand dock owned by Mr. Tran Van Nhung in Yen Khanh block - Nam Dan town, which is operating very busily. On the dock are excavators and cranes scooping sand for each convoy of transporting cars. This sand dock is located close to the Nam Dan culvert, Mr. Nhung also built an encroachment on the bridge pier, occupying the culvert corridor. Mr. Nhung's sand dock is located in a vulnerable location, encroaching on the waterway traffic safety corridor, causing insecurity for Nam Dan bridge and culvert, but it is unclear why it has been comfortably existing for many years. An indignant local resident said: This sand dock has disrupted the lives of the people here, cars continuously coming in and out carrying sand, causing a lot of dust. Boats illegally suck sand along the river and even into the bridge pier area. If illegal sand mining is not stopped, Nam Dan bridge could collapse at any time.

In the Ba Ra-Nam Dan sluice area, there are about a dozen ships lying near the edge of the sluice and even more surprisingly, there are ships filled with sand that have entered the sluice to hide, blocking the flow. Less than 1 km from the foot of Nam Dan bridge, there are nearly 10 sand wharves, with a fairly large scale of operation. The wharves all have cranes and excavators to scoop sand for trucks from all over to get sand. Such as the wharves of Mr. Dinh, Mr. Hoan, Xuan Thuy...

From early morning until afternoon, large iron sand ships with a capacity of 70-100 m3 spread out to points in Nam Dan Town and along the communes of Nam Tan, Nam Thuong, Hung Tien... competing to suck sand, causing riverbank erosion. Mrs. Nguyen Thi L in hamlet 4 of Nam Tan commune lamented: The whole family only knows how to rely on alluvial land to live, but now he sees, sand sucking causes erosion, now the cultivated land is out of the river, now there is only less than 1 sao left to grow beans, not knowing what to live on. Many points due to excessive sand exploitation have changed the flow, threatening the residential land of the outskirts of Nam Dan Town.

Mr. Tran Van Nhung's sand wharf is near the Nam Dan bridge and culvert construction site.

In Do Luong, the problem of illegal sand mining is taking place hotly. Right in Boi Son commune - Do Luong, there are 2 sand docks of Mr. Que and Mr. Be which are quite large in scale. When we took pictures of the sand dock, Que threatened: "Be just came back from "camping" there...". According to the people's reflection, Be and Que's boats with large capacity go to suck sand everywhere day and night. We made our way to the riverbank, near the Boi Son commune pumping station.

Sand dredgers are openly operating, the sound of their engines roaring like a construction site. Wherever the sand dredgers use their "water hoses", the water rises. When we took pictures, the subjects on the ship turned off the engine and anchored close to the shore. According to our investigation, Que and Be's ships "dug" sand everywhere from Boi Son to Lam Son, Trang Son... Even the Lam River embankment (a key area) only about 30m from Provincial Road 15 to Tan Ky, the sand dredgers also used their water hoses to get sand despite the embankment erosion, a project the State has invested tens of billions of dong to build embankments to prevent erosion in Trang Son commune.

Ms. Le Thi T in Hamlet 6, Boi Son Commune said: Along Ngoc - Lam - Boi road, many landslides have eaten into the road. Right in front of Qua Son Temple, a long stretch has been eroded and has many cracks. Currently, landslides also threaten the residential land area of ​​people in Hamlets 5 - 6. We observed at Boi Son Pumping Station that the landslides have cut deep into the corridor of the Station. Mr. Nguyen Van B in Hamlet 2, Boi Son Commune added: Previously, his family grew 3 sao of corn, but 2 sao have eroded into the river. Now, there is only 1 sao of corn left, which cannot feed 4 people. Boats here exploit sand right at the alluvial ground, eroding people's cultivated land into the river.

The people have organized many times to push them away, but when they return, the boats come to suck them up again. At this rate, the people will no longer have land to cultivate and make a living. Currently, many river sections in Trang Son, Boi Son, Lam Son... have been invested by the State with money to build embankments to prevent erosion, but with the problem of blatant sand dredging, where sand is dredged without management by local authorities, many embankments are threatened with erosion. The cultivated land and residential land of people in many communes along Lam River are crying for help.

In the Ba Ra-Do Luong sluice area, according to regulations, the construction is protected more than 500 meters from the downstream and upstream. According to an officer of the Do Luong Ba Ra Management Station, sand miners still take advantage of the night to enter the prohibited mining area. The station often has to be on duty to repel them. In addition, illegal sand mining in Hung Nguyen is quite painful, the hot spot is concentrated in Hung Lam commune, where dozens of sand boats of local people suck sand along the riverbank, causing landslides on people's cultivated land, causing public outrage.

Going up to the western districts of Nghe An, in Anh Son, Con Cuong, Ky Son districts, sand mining activities take place very openly. Right in the area of ​​​​Vuc Bong waist in Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong), at this time, there are 5-7 illegal sand mining ships operating day and night, sand suction ships set up water cannons right on the river bank, even pumping right next to Vuc Bong waist, a key project that has just been embanked by the State to prevent landslides.

Along the Nam Mo River, Muong Xen Town and Ta Ca (Ky Son) section, sand mining ships are illegally sucking sand along the riverbank, even destroying the road along the Nam Mo River to form a sand wharf. For Tan Ky district, from the beginning of 2013 until now, the province's interdisciplinary team has been searching for and chasing away illegal mining ships. However, up to now, along the Con River in Nghia Dong area, there are still some ships illegally sucking sand and gravel.

It can be said that after a period of time when the provincial authorities stepped in to sweep and push back, the situation has improved. But up to this point, illegal sand mining has recurred, operating openly and with an increasing trend.
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Article and photos: Minh Ha