Struggling in... Mineral Law?
Lack of sand, lack of land for filling, difficulties in managing scattered, scattered, and small-scale minerals... are realities that have been occurring for many years in mountainous and midland districts of the province, and are one of the fundamental causes leading to law violations, causing social outrage.
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THE PROBLEM OF "MINE PIRATES"
There was an illegal mining of quartz ore discovered and arrested by the police force, causing a stir in public opinion in early 2024. On February 22, on National Highway 1A in Quynh Thien Ward, Hoang Mai Town, the Police Department investigating crimes of corruption, economy, smuggling, environment and the Traffic Police Department inspected and discovered a tractor-trailer carrying 83 tons of quartz ore without invoices proving its origin. From here, the police agency investigated the owner of the shipment, the gathering place with more than 400 tons of quartz ore, the organizer of the collection..., as well as discovered that the quartz ore was illegally mined in Chau Hoan Commune, a remote area of the mountainous district of Quy Chau.
Quartz ore is a valuable mineral, with a large demand in the processing industry. In the province, quartz ore does not form mines but is scattered and small in many places, and often in remote mountainous and midland areas with difficulties in management, so illegal mining has occurred. In 2019, it was in Bay Nha area, Nhan Can village, Thanh Son border commune, Thanh Chuong district; and in 2020, it was in Lan Toong mountain area, Chau Hong commune, Quy Hop district...
Having worked with the authorities to clarify illegal quartz mining cases in Thanh Chuong and Quy Hop districts, when we received information about a similar incident in Quy Chau district, in early March 2024, we (reporters) went up to Chau Hoan commune. Here, we were taken to the land at the end of Quy Chau district, Pung stream, in Vat Tren village, adjacent to Quang Phong commune, Que Phong border district.
The road to the illegal mining area is winding, passing through several residential areas, some hills, rice fields... But right on the way in, there are scattered large, independent, opaque white rocks with a metallic sheen, which the locals call orphan rocks. Upon closer inspection, this type of rock has many similarities to the quartz ore that "mineral bandits" have illegally mined in the communes of Chau Hong and Thanh Son. After about 30 minutes, we arrived at the quartz ore mining area that the police had identified. This is a hilly area with Pung stream running through it. In an area of more than 500m2There are still many blocks of quartz ore of various sizes. Some have been lifted above ground, some are exposed in the ravine, some are half submerged, half floating on the ground. Among them, there are very large blocks of ore, up to 5 - 7m.3. Following Pung stream upstream to Que Phong district for a long distance, we noticed that on this land, there is quite a lot of quartz ore...
According to representatives of Chau Hoan Commune People's Committee and Quy Chau District People's Committee, the area with the mining situation is under the management of Mr. Lo Van Huynh, residing in Lien Minh village. In this place, since 1978, Mr. Huynh has been cultivating and reclaiming land for farming, making fish ponds, and building watchtowers along the stream. After the incident, the commune authorities verified and concluded that because there were orphaned rocks floating on the ground in the fields and gardens, Mr. Huynh hired Mr. Vu Van Sy (born in 1992, residing in Tam Hop Commune, Quy Hop District) to bring in machines to dig with the purpose of renovating the fields to facilitate farming. Personally, Mr. Vu Van Sy recognized that the rocks were valuable during the renovation process, so he collected, transported them, and then sold them outside the area...
Regarding the responsibility of state management in the incident, Chau Hoan commune authorities admitted that they had underestimated the value of this type of stone, so they were subjective and did not have a firm grasp of the situation to promptly detect and handle it from the beginning.
Representative of Quy Chau District People's Committee, Head of Natural Resources and Environment Department - Mr. Tran Bao Linh confirmed that not only the people, but also the officials did not know that this was quartz ore. Due to lack of knowledge and not recognizing the value of quartz ore, when the need arose for renovating fields and gardens to develop the economy, people allowed people outside the district to dig and collect quartz ore; and the commune government was lax in state management...
Actually, when the police clarified the case, everyone knew that this was quartz ore, a valuable mineral...".
Mr. Tran Bao Linh - Head of Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Chau district
"THIRST" FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
As a border district and the largest district-level locality in the country, for many years, Tuong Duong has not had a sand mine. In order for Tuong Duong to have sand for construction, in Document No. 2839/XN-UBND dated July 6, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee allowed the exploitation of sand in the reservoir area of Khe Bo Hydropower Plant. However, the exploitation period stated in Document No. 2839/XN-UBND expired in July 2020, so since then, organizations and individuals in Tuong Duong district have had to use sand transported from lowland districts, incurring huge costs. Facing a difficult situation in the context of implementing socio-economic development programs, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district has repeatedly commented (or reported in writing) to competent authorities about this situation.
Mr. Nguyen Phung Hung - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tuong Duong district said: Currently, basic construction activities in the district have to buy sand from Anh Son and Do Luong districts, with the distance to the district center, Thach Giam town, from 100-140km. Therefore, the price of sand fluctuates from 300,000-330,000 VND/m3, about 150% higher than the price announced by the Provincial People's Committee of 220,000 VND/m3. High material costs, increased investment rates, increased construction costs, so economic efficiency is low.
Mr. Nguyen Phung Hung gave us access to a document issued by the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district in June 2024, which shows that Tuong Duong district is currently promoting the implementation of many infrastructure projects under the National Target Program on New Rural Construction for the period 2021-2025. The document also clearly states that people in this mountainous district 30a are enjoying support policies for building and repairing houses for poor and near-poor households, with a total of 4,148 households supported to build houses (2,348 households building new houses; 1,800 households repairing houses). Therefore, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district proposed that competent authorities consider and allow the development of a plan to recover minerals in the dredged area of Khe Bo lake.
“The sand and gravel reserves in the district are small and scattered in small streams, not meeting the conditions for granting mining licenses according to current regulations. The area with large reserves is located in the Khe Bo hydropower reservoir area, so it is allowed to develop a plan to recover minerals in the dredging area to contribute to increasing the local budget revenue and reducing the cost of construction materials…” - Tuong Duong District People's Committee proposed.
The border district of Que Phong has many streams, rivers and hydroelectric reservoirs with sand such as: Quang River, Nam Giai River, Nam Viec River, Nam Hat and Nam Hinh streams... But the irony is that the sand in these rivers and streams does not have a large enough reserve to be able to plan mines and grant mining licenses according to regulations. And this is the cause of many years of Que Phong district being "thirsty" for sand, giving rise to the problem of illegal sand mining and many other consequences. To the point that many grassroots cadres have exclaimed that despite trying everything, doing their best, in many remote river sections and streams, illegal small-scale sand mining still exists.
Because they realized that there was sand in the area, but they had to buy sand from Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, and Quy Chau districts, leading to a waste of budget and people's money, many localities in Que Phong have sent documents to the District People's Committee to report and propose to competent authorities to allow the collection of sand in the area. For example, Muong Noc commune - a locality determined to reach the new rural area target in 2025 of Que Phong district - once sent a document stating that the reason for not achieving the new rural area target was the high price of construction materials, of which the most difficult problem was construction sand.
Detailed price of construction sand per 5m truck3about 1.3 - 1.4 million VND, average sand from 1.7 - 1.8 million VND, Muong Noc Commune People's Committee proposed: "If sand is collected in the area, the price will certainly decrease, people and especially poor households, dilapidated households will have less difficulty in building houses, construction progress will be accelerated... gradually contributing to poverty reduction and successful construction of new rural hamlets and new rural communes. So on behalf of the people of Muong Noc Commune, I would like to propose to the District People's Committee, recommend to the competent authorities, the Provincial People's Committee to allow localities such as Muong Noc to collect sand in the area to reduce difficulties for the people as well as successfully implement the National Target Program on new rural construction".
Talking with Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee - Mr. Bui Van Hien said that the sand issue is still "as it was before, so it is now". On the district side, they still regularly direct the commune authorities not to loosen their responsibilities due to difficulties. But they have also proposed to the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments to study the specific characteristics of the border district with many difficulties to find solutions.
The difficulty in Que Phong district is that there are no mines with sufficient reserves to grant mining licenses according to regulations. Therefore, the district has proposed that superiors consider surveying and planning 3-5 sand sites at the same time to form mines, organize auctions, and grant mining licenses. Only then can the communes in the district reduce pressure; and construction projects of the people and the state reduce investment costs..."
Mr. Bui Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee
AMENDING THE LAW, TOWARDS THE BASIC
The shortcomings and inadequacies related to the mineral sector in Nghe An are not only the management of scattered, scattered, and small-scale minerals, the scarcity of sand and gravel materials in the highland districts. Even in the localities in the plains and midlands, there are also shortcomings and inadequacies. Such as the lack of raw materials for leveling, leading to many difficulties in state management, which is a "bottleneck" in investment in building infrastructure for socio-economic development.
Evidence of reality in the mountainous district of Quy Chau, in mid-November 2022, a report had to be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee, reporting the current situation and proposing solutions to ensure the need for land to level the ground for public infrastructure projects and works according to the 3 National Target Programs. According to Quy Chau district, the planning and licensing of land mine exploitation in the area is not feasible; 4 planned land mines in Chau Binh, Chau Phong, Chau Tien, Chau Thang communes have no organizations or individuals applying for mining licenses due to low capital recovery ability! And, the solution proposed by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district is: "Recommend the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and branches to consider and create conditions for the People's Committee of Quy Chau district to be allowed to fully recover the planned land mines in the area during the implementation of public infrastructure projects and works invested by the District People's Committee. The District People's Committee commits to develop a plan to use the land for the right purpose, the right volume and pay taxes in full according to regulations...".
Mentioning these shortcomings and inadequacies to some responsible specialized officials to ask at the present time, when the 2010 Mineral Law is being considered for amendment, has it been mentioned to have new appropriate regulations to help localities of the province overcome difficulties? It is known that the draft Mineral Law has been submitted to the National Assembly for the first comments of delegates, however, it has only created "clearance" for the issue of land filling materials.
Also on this issue, in an exchange with Ms. Vo Thi Minh Sinh - National Assembly delegate, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, she also acknowledged that these are all difficult issues that need to be resolved, especially for mountainous districts with specific characteristics of the province. Ms. Vo Thi Minh Sinh also said that these issues have been reflected and discussed by the National Assembly Delegation of the province; however, she will pay more attention to giving more detailed comments at the upcoming consultation session on the draft Law on Minerals...
