Nghe An: People are worried under the Na Bang cliff

People are angry

Nghe An Newspaper received information from people in Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district about violations in the stone exploitation process of Tung Cuong Company Limited at Na Bang stone quarry in Lau village, Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district.

Tung Cuong Quarry. Photo taken at 9:00 a.m. on June 4, 2021.

The state of the blasting business,quarryHere, many houses in Lau village were hit by rocks, causing broken tiles, damaged furniture, and environmental pollution, making people worried and always living in insecurity. Recently, on May 31, 2021, this situation continued to occur.

A rock flew into and broke the glass and roof tiles of a house in Lau village, Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau. People kept it. Photo: Ha Giang

Arriving at Lau village, Chau Tien commune (Quy Chau) at 9am on June 4, on the road connecting National Highway 48 to Chau Tien, Chau Binh, Chau Thuan communes, there were many trucks of all sizes lugging rock materials back and forth. Mrs. Pham Thi Thanh's house is about 100m from the quarry. During the recent blast, her house was hit by a lot of rocks. In the past few days, Mrs. Thanh had to go to Hanoi for medical treatment, and Mrs. Pham Thi Thanh, her younger sister, came to look after the house for her. "At around 11am on May 31, I was cooking rice when 3 hours passed.blastingcontinuously rang out from the quarry behind the house. At that time, rocks were flying into the tiles, the walls, and the glass shutters, causing the glass to shatter. On the bathroom floor and ceiling, there were still fist-sized rocks lying around..." - Mrs. Thanh said.

Entering the house, taking out a large plastic bag, Mrs. Thanh said: “These are the things I collected in the house. There are still many pieces of rock in the garden.” “My sister is sick and is being treated in Hanoi, so I have to go up to look after the house. Luckily, the house has a wooden ceiling to catch the flying pieces of rock, otherwise if they had hit the elderly resting in the house, the consequences would have been unimaginable…” - Mrs. Thanh lamented.

Ms. Pham Thi Thanh pointed to the glass door where rocks were broken (circled in red) and the rocks from the quarry that flew in, breaking the glass and tiles. Photo: Ngoc Khanh

Not only inside the house, outside the garden, there are many pieces of stone of all sizes, big and small, scattered. From the garden, you can clearly see the Na Bang rock cliff, which is about 50 - 60m higher than the houses. Pointing to the top of the cliff, Ms. Thanh affirmed: “Every day I still see workers climbing to the top of the rock cliff to drill. On average, they detonate mines twice a day. Every time we hear the detonation of mines, we are startled. A few days ago, the police came to the house to check. They also said, with such detonation, how can we avoid rocks flying into people's houses…”.

Mr. Vi Van Dung's house is located one street away from Mrs. Pham Thi Thanh's garden, about 50m from Na Bang rock cliff. Mr. Dung's son, Vi Anh Nhat, said that his house had its cement tiles broken by flying rocks.

With a face still full of fear, Nhat said: “That afternoon, after hearing the continuous sound of mine explosions, I saw my father running behind the house, saying that all the tiles had been broken by the rocks…” Nhat also said that the workers from the quarry brought the tiles back to re-roof his house. But “From that day until now, I have been very scared. The quarry explodes rocks twice a day at 11am and 6pm. If they keep exploding like that, what if they accidentally hit you with flying rocks…”

"Standing in the corner of the garden, you can see people drilling rocks on top of the rock cliff that Tung Cuong Company exploits," said Ms. Pham Thi Thanh. Photo: Ngoc Khanh

According to Mr. Vi Van Dung, the incident where Tung Cuong Company used explosives to quarry rocks and threw pieces of rock into people's constructions on May 31st not only broke the roof tiles of their houses, but also affected some other households in Lau village. "Some houses were even hit by flying rocks, injuring a pig. Although the company sent people to replace the broken tiles, we are still very worried, if the rocks accidentally hit someone, it would affect their lives. Like my house, it is too close to where they are quarrying..."

Government intervention

Sharing the same frustration with the people, a representative of Chau Tien commune government said: Tung Cuong Company has been blasting rocks to mine, causing consequences for the people of Lau village for many years. “The living environment is polluted, there are vibrations from blasting, rocks and soil flying into people's houses... all of them. In 2020, the commune inspected, the district inspected, the province inspected, everything was there, but it's still the same..." - an official said.

Regarding the incident that just happened on May 31, the People's Committee officer of the communeChau Tienwent to each household to inspect and record the scene; at the same time, a report was made to the District People's Committee. There were 12 households affected, with rocks flying into their houses, causing damage to roof tiles and cooling systems. Mr. Sam Thanh Hoai - Vice Chairman of Chau Tien Commune People's Committee said that on the afternoon of May 31, 2021, the Commune People's Committee also sent cadastral officers to coordinate with the Provincial Police Department's Environmental Police to inspect the scene.

On the side of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, after receiving the report of the People's Committee of Chau Tien commune, they responded in writing with the content of directing the commune government to inspect and handle violations according to their authority. If after inspection, it is determined that the violation is beyond their authority, they will report to the People's Committee of the district for handling according to regulations.

Mr. Vi Van Dung's house is located about 50m from the quarry (arrow) where Tung Cuong Company Limited exploits. Photo: Ha Giang

“The Commune People's Committee has sent an invitation to the Company to work on June 4, but they verbally replied that both the Director and Deputy Director are being treated at the District Hospital. Next week, we will continue to ask them to work. If they continue to respond like that, the Commune will report to the District People's Committee. We are also very upset with the attitude of this company. The exploitation process has affected the people, the Commune has had to do ideological work, stabilize the spirit of the people, but they have acted to lower the honor and reputation of the officials performing public duties..." - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Sam Thanh Hoai said.

What kind of behavior is that?, the reporter asked.

Mr. Sam Thanh Hoai sighed: “They challenged and insulted. People even have clips recording their behavior…”.