Lach Thoi, Mo River silted up: People in misery

(Baonghean) - Lach Thoi is a place for anchoring and sheltering from storms for over 300 fishing boats of Son Hai commune, a neighboring area of ​​Quynh Luu district. However, this estuary is being filled with sand, causing the channel to dry up, making it difficult for boats to enter and exit. The Mo River system flowing through An Hoa, Quynh Luong, Quynh Nghia, Quynh Bang communes... is also seriously silted, affecting the drainage of water in residential areas and salt fields.

Fishermen work hard because of Lach Thoi…

Mr. Ba Linh - a fisherman in Hamlet 1, Son Hai Commune, Quynh Luu said: "In early 2013, my family built a 400 CV ship, worth 1.7 billion VND to go offshore, but it ran aground twice in Lach Thoi due to siltation at the estuary. Every time the ship ran aground, it was extremely miserable, having to hire a small boat to "increase the load" to transport seafood to shore; it took 2-3 days to hire a ship and manpower to pull it ashore." Mr. Nguyen Hoa in Hamlet 1, Son Hai Commune lamented: “To avoid the channel being filled with sand, we have to take the ship on a detour of more than 6 km to get to the wharf. If we go the same route as before, from Lach Thoi estuary to the wharf, a 400 horsepower ship only costs about 20 liters of fuel each time it enters and exits, but now, going further, it costs more than 80 liters of fuel each time it enters and exits. Therefore, the cost for each trip to sea now often increases by millions of dong, and if we are unlucky enough to run aground, the cost will be tens of millions of dong. The Lach Thoi dredging project has started, we really hope the construction unit will start dredging soon so that fishermen can easily enter and exit the channel.”

High tides overflowing the Mo River destroy the salt fields in An Hoa - Quynh Luu.

According to fishermen in Son Hai, the sand in Lach Thoi is getting thicker every day, the channel is getting narrower, this year alone, dozens of boats of Son Hai fishermen have broken keels, broken shafts and propellers due to the channel being too shallow, having to stay in "garages" for repairs, costing tens of millions of VND and wasting time, "a double loss". Mr. Tran Van Hung - Chairman of Son Hai Commune People's Committee said that the whole commune has nearly 300 large and small boats, the total annual output reaches over 3,000 tons of various types of seafood, with a revenue of over 300 billion VND/year. Of which, the income from the marine logistics service industry such as providing fishing gear, seafood processing, repairing and building new ships, marine supplies... has a revenue of over 100 billion VND/year. For a long time, the silting of Lach Thoi has not only caused direct difficulties for hundreds of seagoing boats, but also affected other marine services. The good news is that the State has recently allowed investment in the dredging project of Lach Thoi, the project has started, however the most worrying thing is that the flow of Lach Thoi estuary often changes during the year, whether after dredging is completed will the waterway be kept open for a long time?

Mr. Le Van Cuong - Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee said: "The Lach Thoi dredging project has a total investment of 115,386 billion VND, invested by the District People's Committee. The project has started, but due to difficulties in capital sources, only 4,600 million VND has been allocated from the Central budget of the Storm Shelter Anchorage Program, so the construction volume is low and the progress is slow. In the future, on the basis of the Central budget continuing to support the 2014 Storm Shelter Anchorage Program, Quynh Luu District People's Committee will select urgent items such as dredging weak points at Lach Thoi estuary to clear the way for ships and embanking points that are prone to changing currents.

… Salt farmers suffer more due to siltation of Mo River

The Mo River plays a role in providing water for aquaculture, salt production... for the communes of An Hoa, Quynh Lien, Quynh Bang, Quynh Luong, Quynh Minh, Quynh Nghia... For a long time, the riverbed has been seriously silted up, boats cannot travel as before, directly affecting the lives of people in many communes. We walked along the river and witnessed the narrow dikes, many sections were eroded. Mr. Nguyen Nam in Tan Thinh hamlet shared: The Mo River is silted up, so the water supply for salt farmers to make salt is very difficult. Not to mention the weak dike system (mainly earth dikes, which have not been reinforced or repaired for a long time), so when the rainy season comes, high tides often flood the salt fields. In 2013, the water flooded the salt fields, damaging the filters and causing pollution.

Along with sedimentation, the river is seriously polluted, directly affecting salt production and shrimp farming. Tan Thang hamlet alone has 26 hectares of salt, but due to lack of water, productivity is low; more than 14 hectares of shrimp farming are also affected, with the risk of disease spreading. In the second crop of 2013, most of the shrimp in the ponds died, causing hundreds of millions of dong in damage. It is known that the whole An Hoa commune has 160 hectares of salt production land, 34 hectares of shrimp farming mainly relying on the water source of Mo river, but the river is silted, affecting production, making people's lives difficult. Especially in the rainy season, due to low dikes, landslides and high tides, causing damage to the salt fields. In 2013, An Hoa commune had over 220 salt warehouses flooded, damaging over 700 tons of salt, Quynh Thuan commune had over 600 tons of salt damaged.

The silting of the Mo River has also seriously affected shrimp farmers in Quynh Luong Commune. Mr. Ngo Quang Thang in Hamlet 1, Quynh Luong expressed his indignation: “My family raises 2.6 hectares of shrimp, but it is very difficult to get them into the pond because the river is silted. In particular, many households dredge shrimp ponds and discharge mud into the river and encroach on the riverbed to build houses, causing more obstacles and congestion. Quynh Luong Commune has over 50 hectares of shrimp farming, Quynh Bang has over 100 hectares of shrimp farming, and people are in dire need of the State to invest in a project to dredge the river, creating favorable conditions for getting water for shrimp farming.

The Mo River originates from the Hoang Mai River and is over 20 km long, ending at Quynh Nghia Commune. Up to now, only 3.5 km of embankment has been completed from Quynh Di to Mai Hung. Since 2007, the People's Committee of Quynh Luu District has established a project to dredge the Mo River with a cost of over 46 billion VND. However, due to public investment cuts, the State has not yet invested in it.

The two dredging projects of Lach Thoi and Mo River are very practical. Quynh Luu people are looking forward to the State's attention and timely investment of capital to carry out dredging, creating conditions for people to develop the economy and stabilize their lives.

Van Truong