Paradox in the mineral capital Quy Hop
(Baonghean.vn) - Over the past 30 years, since the first enterprise came to Quy Hop to exploit, millions of tons of minerals have been taken away. But there is a paradox, what the local people receive in return is mostly sadness.
Born by profession, die by profession
Luong Van Thanh (19 years old) in Chao village, Chau Hong commune, sat blankly in front of an empty house with no property, except for two portraits of his parents placed on the altar. Since becoming an orphan, the small boy became the pillar of the family, raising two younger siblings. But for the past 5 months, Thanh has been unemployed. He had to borrow money from neighbors and relatives to make ends meet. Since returning home to mourn his parents, Thanh has worked as a wedding tent set-up man, earning 200,000 VND per wedding. But for nearly half a year now, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, not a single wedding has taken place.
Ban Chao – Thanh’s hometown is nestled between towering mountains. About 2 km from his house is Lan Toong mountain, where for decades, many businesses have flocked to dig for tin. In this village, almost every house has at least one old motorbike. This is their means of livelihood. With few fields and no forests, tin ore collection seems to be the main livelihood of the people of Ban Chao.
Like many families, Thanh’s family also has two old motorbikes. Every morning, Thanh’s parents, Luong Van Tuan and Luong Thi Hao, each busily ride a motorbike up the mountain to make a living. Their work usually starts early in the morning and they will go down the mountain at dusk. On average, each person earns only a few hundred thousand dong a day, to support their three children’s education. “Lunch and personal hygiene of the ore collectors all take place in this dark tunnel. Water for daily use is collected drop by drop from the rock crevices,” Thanh said.
Thanh dropped out of school in middle school. Then he followed his parents to the top of the mountain to collect ore. Thanh said that most of the tin in these tunnels had been collected by the company, leaving only small pieces hidden inside the large rocks on the tunnel walls. The ore collectors would use flashlights to shine in, and only then would the workers be able to tell which were normal rocks and which were tin. They would then use hammers to chisel, and if they were not careful or hit pre-existing cracks, the tunnel would collapse at any time.
Meanwhile, due to long-term abandonment, the wooden support piles in the tunnel had rotted, many of them were broken and lying around. Under this mountain, work accidents were always a danger. Not wanting to stick with this risky job, after a while, Thanh followed his friends to China, working as an illegal laborer. Life was not much better, but according to him, it was better than making a living in the underworld.
In mid-March 2019, Thanh was stunned when he received a phone call from his younger brother informing him that his parents had died. When he got home, the atmosphere of mourning had already enveloped the entire Chao village. Thanh's parents' funeral had already been organized. The 18-year-old boy was bewildered when he had to represent his family to shake hands and thank his relatives. The woman from the house across the street also had an accident with Thanh's parents that day. That day, as usual, they went into the tunnel left by the company to collect tin. While they were chiseling, a large rock suddenly collapsed, crushing 3 people...
