Paradox of sand and gravel mining management on Dinh River

(Baonghean) -Implementing the direction of the Government and the province on the management of sand and gravel mining on riverbeds, since the beginning of 2014, the Quy Hop district government has strictly banned all forms of sand and gravel mining on the Dinh River. Due to strict management, the situation of sand and gravel in the area has become scarce and expensive. Local authorities are concerned about the process of building new rural areas, many people are worried because their livelihoods are affected...

Dinh River, where illegal sand and gravel mining often occurs.

Worry, worry

Coc Mam Hamlet (Tho Hop Commune, Quy Hop District) is located close to the Dinh River bank, a hamlet of the Tho ethnic group. There are 126 households, 495 people and is currently building a new rural area. In the hot and humid weather of May, Mr. Truong Van Bien - Hamlet Chief, took us to visit the newly leveled A-class road by the people, but he was not very happy. Mr. Bien said: "In 2013, the hamlet was given cement by the province to build 500 m of B-class road. So now, when talking about building a new rural road, everyone agrees and has donated land, garden trees, architectural objects and participated in labor to complete the 1,000 m road foundation, 7 m wide. The plan is that when the province provides cement, the people will continue to contribute money, sand, gravel and labor to complete the road. However, we are very worried, because currently the district and commune strictly prohibit sand and gravel mining in the Dinh River...".

Since 2013, Quy Hop has strictly prohibited illegal sand and gravel mining. However, when building rural roads, communes with the Dinh River running through the area still allow people to mine for a certain period of time, at locations that do not affect the production land area, and do not allow subsidence to occur. Coc Mam hamlet also submitted a report to the commune and was allowed to mine sand and gravel on the Dinh River to build 500m of type B road. "I heard that this year it will not be allowed to mine. The people are poor, contributing to the sand and gravel mining from the Dinh River is already very difficult. Now, should people be forced to contribute money to buy sand and gravel from Nghia Dan? If not, where will we get sand and gravel to build? Like this, when will Coc Mam complete the rural roads?" - Mr. Truong Van Bien wondered.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Suu - Vice Chairman of Tho Hop Commune People's Committee, sand and gravel in the Dinh River area are sand bars due to the sedimentation process after floods. Previously, in Tho Hop, there were some households exploiting sand and gravel but it did not affect the production area or cause subsidence. After the directive of the District People's Committee, these households strictly complied. However, currently, there is no establishment trading in sand and gravel in the area. Therefore, to have sand and gravel, one must sign a contract to buy it in Nghia Dan at a price 3 to 4 times higher than before. Mr. Suu said: "In 2013, Tho Hop completed the construction of 4 km of road. This year we were assigned about 6 km. People were very excited when they heard the news and enthusiastically participated in completing the road surface, but now knowing that they cannot exploit sand and gravel on the spot, they are worried. We are also planning to propose to the district to have a suitable solution to reduce the burden of contributions for the people...".

Similar to Tho Hop, this year Tam Hop commune registered to build 7 km of rural roads. And according to Mr. Truong Van Dung - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Tam Hop is also having a headache over the issue of sand and gravel. Mr. Dung said that in the past, Tam Hop had illegal sand and gravel mining; in 2014, an individual was proposed by the district to be fined 100 million VND by the province. Since then, illegal sand and gravel mining has completely stopped, but because of that, sand and gravel have become scarce and expensive. People who want to build houses spend a lot of money, while the government is worried about the progress of rural roads, and the hardening of intra-field roads is not guaranteed. "In the future, we will propose to the district to consider ways to remove difficulties...".

Many communes in Quy Hop also suffer the "consequences" of strictly implementing regulations on sand and gravel mining in riverbeds. In Dong Hop commune, to build rural roads, in addition to the cement supported by the province, people rely entirely on the strength of the people. In addition to contributing working days, local people also have to contribute an average of 120,000 VND - 300,000 VND to buy sand, gravel and other expenses. Currently, the price of sand and gravel has increased 3 times compared to before due to transportation costs from Nghia Dan. Mr. Cao Hoang Long - a local land officer said: "Dong Hop does not have the concept of "sand bandits" because Dinh River is not located in the area. But the consequences of strictly banning sand and gravel mining are very clear, especially in the construction of public works such as rural roads...".

Grassroots officials are worried about the lack of sand and gravel to build projects under the National Target Program for New Rural Development, while many people are worried about their livelihoods. Quy Hop district does not have any brick and tile manufacturing enterprises, so there are quite a few households in this area making bricks. Since the exploitation of sand and gravel on the Dinh River was completely banned, the brick-making profession has stagnated due to lack of materials. According to Ms. Ngo Thi Hong (1 of 13 owners of brick-making establishments in Tho Son hamlet, Tho Hop commune), buying sand and gravel from other places to make bricks is impossible because the income is not enough to cover expenses, not to mention paying workers. Ms. Hong has been making bricks for 4 years, investing nearly 70 million VND in machinery and equipment, and in addition to her own labor, she has 3 more workers. Ms. Hong said: "The sand and gravel mining areas are all areas where people used to grow crops, not on the riverbed. Due to the heavy rain and floods, sand and gravel are silted up, making it impossible to grow crops, so some households have switched to sand and gravel mining to make a living. The government is right to ban illegal mining, but they should also open up some way to have a source of sand and gravel to serve social needs and create jobs for people. For example, we work in the trunk making business and are also suffering the consequences...".

What is the solution?

On March 6, 2013, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district issued Official Dispatch No. 93/UBND-TN to relevant agencies and local authorities on the strict implementation of the Prime Minister's direction on the management of sand and gravel on riverbeds; on October 15, 2013, Mr. Bui Thanh An - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district continued to issue Directive No. 21/CT-UBND on rectifying mineral exploitation activities, clearly stating the illegal exploitation of sand and gravel on Dinh river leading to environmental pollution, causing landslides on both sides of the river, affecting agricultural land areas... to request communes and towns in the area to seriously implement. From the end of 2013 until now, the functional departments of Quy Hop district and the authorities of communes have handled many cases of illegal sand and gravel exploitation. In which, administrative violation records have been drawn up for some cases and fined in cash, and mining machinery and equipment have been confiscated. In particular, in March 2014, the Provincial People's Committee was requested to punish two cases: Mr. Truong Van Kinh (residing in Tan Tien hamlet, Tam Hop commune) and Ms. Truong Thi Ha (residing in Hop Long hamlet, Dong Hop commune).

On March 21, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1021/QD.UBND.KT to fine Mr. Truong Van Kinh VND 16,000,000, confiscate a Magic-Wave generator, a sand suction chamber; Decision No. 1021/QD.UBND.KT to fine Ms. Truong Thi Ha VND 35,000,000, and force her to pay an amount equivalent to the value of the vehicle Ms. Ha used to commit the administrative violation (1 Daewoo Solar excavator) of VND 100,000,000. The total fine is VND 135,000,000. In addition, Mr. Kinh and Ms. Ha must take measures to restore the environment of the exploited area to a safe state as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 37, Decree No. 142/2013/ND-CP of the Government.

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Khoi - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quy Hop district, according to regulations, the district government has dealt with cases of illegal sand and gravel mining very resolutely, and this social evil has now ended. However, the paradox is that the people's demand for sand and gravel for building houses and implementing public works is very large but is not met because Quy Hop has not had any enterprises licensed for exploitation. Mr. Khoi said: "It is necessary to consider granting licenses to enterprises for exploration and exploitation. Only then can the district and commune authorities perform well in management work in the area. Besides, it also creates revenue for the budget, meets practical needs, and creates jobs for local workers...".

In fact, not only Quy Hop but also some districts in the province are facing paradoxes in the management of sand and gravel exploitation on riverbeds. Strict management to prevent illegal exploitation is completely correct. However, it is necessary to find solutions to quickly reduce the "fever" of sand and gravel in the area. According to the investigation, there are currently some enterprises in Quy Hop applying for exploration and exploitation of construction sand and gravel. Therefore, the authorities of Quy Hop district need to coordinate well with relevant agencies to implement the procedures according to regulations to help enterprises soon be licensed by the Provincial People's Committee for exploration and exploitation.

Nhat Lan