'3-no' tile kilns spring up in large numbers in Tan Ky

"3 no" tile factory

Available atNghia Hoan commune, we recorded a very "chaotic" situation in this locality when a series of unburned colored tile factories were built without permission; without land lease contracts; without environmental impact assessment reports. Although these production facilities "sprouted" in the past 5 years, up to now the local government has not been able to completely resolve them.

When we arrived, it was raining, and the road leading to the old Cua tile production area was muddy. Some unburned colored tile factories were built right on the foundation of the old handmade tile kilns. Even many traces of the demolition of the old handmade tile kilns were still there and very messy.

Through research, it is known that Nghia Hoan commune, Tan Ky district currently has 10 unburned colored tile production facilities. The production facilities are scattered in residential areas and in the old Cua brick and tile production area of ​​Nghia Hoan commune people. The most easily recognizable feature of these facilities is that they all have a feeding hopper like a mini concrete mixing station, used to mix mortar to cast tiles. Due to illegal construction, the tanks to contain wastewater at these production facilities are also built very roughly and temporarily. Wastewater from the production of unburned tiles, most of which is cement water, flows into the environment and into the field ditches.

On December 27, 2022, the People's Committee of Nghia Hoan commune inspected the unburnt colored tile production facility of Mr. Vo Van Phuc, residing in Cua hamlet. In the working minutes, the People's Committee of Nghia Hoan commune also requested the owner of the facility to urge the consulting unit to carry out the procedures for applying for a license. Repair the embankment, do not let wastewater overflow into the internal drainage ditch. The People's Committee of Nghia Hoan commune concluded that the production facility must carry out the procedures for applying for a construction license before June 30, 2023. If it is not completed after that time, production must be temporarily suspended.

Also in 2022, the People's Committee of Nghia Hoan commune made a series of records with the owners of production facilities. In these records, the owners of production facilities all admitted the violations pointed out by the local authorities, such as: Not completing land lease procedures, not having a construction permit, some facilities even letting wastewater overflow into the internal drainage ditches... At the same time, they signed the records, and commented that they are currently hiring a consulting unit to prepare a survey file to select a location, and investment licensing procedures.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung - Chairman of Nghia Hoan Commune People's Committee said: After the Commune People's Committee made a record, they asked the production facilities to quickly complete the procedures, but up to this point, they have not been completed. And the locality has only stopped at making a record of the work but has not yet punished or suspended any cases.

Regarding the series of unlicensed, unburned color tile factories that have sprung up in recent years and have not been completely handled, Mr. Hung said: According to regulations, production facilities that want to operate must go through a 7-step licensing process from land lease, construction permit... However, in 2018, when implementing the policy of eliminating handmade brick and tile kilns, some households had no jobs, households that were familiar with brick and tile production invested in equipment lines and switched to producing unburned color tiles without completing any procedures. Currently, the area where households opened production factories has a planning area for the production of unburned color tiles, the land use planning until 2030 has also been approved, but the planning and construction permit are not yet available. The construction planning is waiting for approval by the District People's Council.

Need to deal with it decisively

The elimination of brick and tile kilns and the switch to the production of unburned colored tiles made of cement by production facilities in Nghia Hoan commune is considered a suitable policy. However, the implementation process still has many problems. Up to now, the land use of production households in this area has not been unified, some households rent land from the locality, others buy agricultural land from people and build factories, causing many consequences in land management.

According to the opinion of Nghe An Department of Construction in the official dispatch responding to the request of Tan Ky District People's Committee on April 19, 2018, based on the Investment Law 2014 and Decision 72/2017/QD-UBND dated November 28, 2017 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee on promulgating regulations on procedures for implementing investment projects in Nghe An province, this business investment activity must be approved by the Provincial People's Committee. Therefore, Tan Ky District People's Committee needs to base on the above legal basis to guide organizations and individuals who previously produced handmade bricks and tiles to complete the procedures for converting to the production of unburnt colored tiles in accordance with regulations.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung added that: The locality wants these production households to complete the procedures as soon as possible, only then will the thinking of dozens of handicraft production households be cleared, because since the policy of abolishing handmade brick and tile kilns was issued, the locality has spent a lot of effort to mobilize people to implement. After abolishing handmade brick and tile kilns, it is necessary to quickly create conditions for people to convert and continue to invest in more suitable production models. Not to mention that the sooner these establishments complete legal procedures, the more the local economy will be promoted, but in reality, since the workshops opened, they have not contributed anything to the budget or supported local development. Because if they collect, it is tacitly admitting their violations.

Mr. Vi Van Quang - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Tan Ky district said: The district has repeatedly instructed, urged, reminded the locality to inspect, review and request production facilities to complete legal procedures. On June 27, 2022, the District People's Committee also issued Official Dispatch No. 1033/UBND-KTHT requesting land review and dismantling of brick and tile kilns in Nghia Hoan commune. In this Official Dispatch, the district requested that colored tile and cement tile production facilities must comply with the guidance of the Department of Construction (ie, apply according to the 2014 Investment Law and Decision 72/2017/QD-UBND dated November 28, 2017 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province). At the same time, it affirmed that these facilities are currently violating land, environmental and construction investment regulations. If the facilities do not carry out investment procedures according to regulations, the People's Committee of the commune shall draw up a record of administrative violations and suspend operations according to law.

Obviously, the establishment of unburned colored tile manufacturing facilities in Nghia Hoan commune without completing legal procedures is wrong. And allowing 10 facilities to "sprout" simultaneously also shows the lack of determination from the beginning of the local government. If this problem is not handled thoroughly, it will affect the strictness of the law, cause chaos, sloppiness, and even easily lead to the situation of "one small mistake leads to another", when the initial small-scale violations are not resolved promptly, causing a more complicated situation.