Efforts to prevent illegal gold mining

(Baonghean) - While illegal gold mining is becoming a problem in many mountainous districts, causing local authorities to face many difficulties in thoroughly handling it, Con Cuong district is a bright spot in propaganda work and effectively handling this problem...

Illegal gold mining along the Lam River through Lang Khe and Chau Khe communes (Con Cuong) has been going on for many years, affecting the daily life and work, causing frustration among people living along the river. Fish and shrimp production in the river has also been significantly affected... Previously, in the district, there was only one mineral company in Lang Son that had an operating license. Since 2010, this company has expired and withdrawn from the area. The gold mining ship of this company was bought by some locals for illegal mining, but the local government has stepped in to confiscate the ship step by step, before illegal gold mining emerged as a hot spot.

Gold mining machine abandoned by people.

Illegal gold mining also occurred on the Giang River, in Mon Son Commune, in 2012 and 2013. However, when the gold ships began operating, the people promptly reported the incident to the local authorities for quick handling. Up to this point, along the Giang River, illegal gold mining has also stopped. It must be said that to eliminate illegal gold mining on the river, first of all, thanks to the good awareness of the people who promptly reported to the authorities and highly agreed in organizing prevention, for the past year, there have been no more hot spots of illegal gold mining in Con Cuong District.

Mr. Luong Dinh Viet - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Con Cuong district shared: From 2011 - 2012, illegal gold mining in Con Cuong appeared in Mon Son, Chau Khe, Lang Khe, especially Binh Chuan commune, which is a rather complicated hot spot. In this situation, the district People's Committee established interdisciplinary teams including the district police, the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Labor Federation led by the Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee to go to the locations where illegal gold mining occurred to resolutely handle the hot spots. In 2012 and 2013, the district's interdisciplinary teams organized many raids to handle administrative sanctions and confiscate illegal exhibits. Thereby, the district assigned responsibility to the commune authorities where illegal gold mining occurred to organize propaganda about the environmental damage caused by illegal gold mining. By the end of 2013, this problem was basically resolved. The hot spots have gradually stabilized.

In Binh Chuan commune, illegal gold mining has been a hot topic recently. The activities of illegal gold mining groups mainly take place at the headwaters of Khe Choi stream, making the water source turbid, affecting the lives of people in downstream villages in Cam Lam commune. Many rice fields along the stream cannot be planted due to polluted stream water. Excavators and sand and soil sprayers operate day and night. But up to this point, when we approached Khe Choi area, the situation had improved a lot, with only traces of old mining and a few old pumps left by people mining in a "bandit" style...

Vice Chairman of Binh Chuan Commune People's Committee, Mr. Kha Van Vien said: Before the gold mining boom in the area, the commune government coordinated with the district's interdisciplinary inspection teams to hunt down illegal miners, confiscate and destroy illegal evidence. Recently, some people brought excavators into the area with the intention of illegal mining, but the commune government quickly expelled them from the area. However, currently, in the commune, there is still a phenomenon of people buying small-capacity vacuum cleaners for small-scale mining. The main solution is still to gradually propagate and mobilize people to be aware of the environmental impact of these activities.

In general, efforts to prevent illegal gold mining in Con Cuong have had positive effects. Hot spots of this problem in Lang Khe and Binh Chuan have been basically resolved. However, according to local people's feedback, occasionally large excavators still secretly dig into the stream bed; requiring more drastic intervention from local authorities to prevent illegal gold mining effectively and stably in the long term.

HV