(Baonghean.vn) - After being allocated forestry land, a household in Tang Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An) has cut down all the forest and used excavators to cut up hills to sell gravel and soil for the past 13 years.
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| Dong Eo Hill in Hamlet 3B (Tang Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh) has an area of over 10 hectares and is dozens of meters high. This area used to be a eucalyptus forest interspersed with thousands of graves. In 1993, the People's Committee of Tang Thanh Commune assigned this area to Mr. Truong Dang Long (70 years old, Hamlet 3B) for management. Photo: HT |
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| Although the forestry land handover minutes stipulated that Mr. Long was not allowed to cause harm to protective forests, sand barriers, and coverage..., his family still cut down the entire decades-old eucalyptus forest to sell without planting replacement forests. Not only that, starting in 2004, Mr. Long's family also cut down hills to sell soil and gravel. Photo: HT |
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| After 13 years of illegal mining, more than half of the hill has been sold by Mr. Long's family. Local people said they have repeatedly sent complaints, but the local authorities seem indifferent to the incident. Photo: HT |
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| Illegal mining has also caused many graves to be leveled. In the photo, the ancestral tomb of Mr. Phan Xuan Khuong's family (70 years old) is at risk of being buried. Photo: HT |
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| Faced with the risk of losing their graves due to this illegal mining, more than 10 local families recently had to organize their own relocation. The mining has also blocked all the roads up the hill, so people have had to hire excavators and build their own roads to serve the excavation work. Photo: HT |
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| A grave on the top of a hill is at risk of collapsing into the abyss. Nearly a month ago, on November 23, after receiving a phone call from the people, the Environmental Police Department (PC 49, Nghe An Police) sent a working team to inspect and record the illegal mining. Mr. Long's son, Mr. Truong Dang Hai (42 years old), was fined more than 6 million VND and his excavator was confiscated. However, shortly after, this man continued to bring the excavator back to continue mining. Photo: HT |
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| Mr. Dao Van Khai - Chairman of the People's Committee of Tang Thanh commune admitted that he was wrong in not thoroughly handling this situation. "The illegal exploitation has been going on for more than 10 years now, the previous commune leaders also paid money to turn a blind eye, but I personally have never done that," Mr. Khai said, adding that the commune will soon put up signs prohibiting exploitation in this area and affirmed that if this family continues to exploit, he will take full responsibility. Photo: HT |
Tien Hung - Phuong Thao
