The reflection of the illegal mining of stone ore in Chau Hong commune by Nghe An Newspaper is correct!

According to Report No. 726/UBND-TN, immediately after Nghe An Electronic Newspaper on July 16, 2020 published the article "Clarifying the illegal mining of quartz ore in Nghe An”Reflecting on the situation of illegal mineral exploitation in Chau Hong commune, the Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee directed the inspection and clarification. By July 22, 2020, the District People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 705/UBND.TNMT on reporting the results of the inspection and verification of the content of the newspaper to respond to Nghe An Newspaper, and at the same time reporting to the Provincial People's Committee, Department of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant levels and sectors.

On July 28, 2020, Nghe An Electronic Newspaper continued to publish an article“Acacia mining or illegal quartz mining?”with the following content about the illegal mining situation in Chau Hong commune. Upon receiving this information, on the morning of July 29, 2020, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district directly worked with the district police, relevant departments and the People's Committee of Chau Hong commune to conduct inspection and verification at the scene.

A delegation of Quy Hop district officials inspected the scene where Nghe An Newspaper reported on the illegal mining of stone ores. Photo: Contributor

Through inspection, it was determined that the reported area is called Na Ban Xa. This is a mountainous area mainly of planted forest, which has been assigned to households for stable use. In the area assigned to Mr. Nguyen Van Nam's household (residing in Poong village, Chau Hong commune), in the area that has not been granted a land use right certificate, there is about 1,500 m² The land was excavated to get natural stone. The volume of excavated natural stone lying at the site is about 30 m³; there are signs that some rocks have been transported out of the site but the volume is unknown. According to naked eye observation, this is an "orphan" rock containing quartz.

Regarding the transportation route, according to the report of the People's Committee of Chau Hong commune, it used to be a people's trail into the forest. Around 2010, people widened and lowered the slope to plant and transport acacia, but at that time large trucks could not enter. By early 2020, some sections of the road were widened and lowered the slope to allow large trucks to enter with the purpose of transporting acacia. However, there were people who took advantage of the widening and lowering of the slope to illegally exploit and transport stones.

Quy Hop District People's Committee, through inspection, determined that there were subjects taking advantage of widening and lowering the road slope to illegally exploit and transport stone. Photo: Contributor

Regarding the state management responsibility of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee, there were two inspections on May 11, 2020 and July 14, 2020. After each inspection, the Commune People's Committee made a record of suspension, requiring Mr. Nam's family to immediately stop all digging activities, keep the scene intact, and not transport rocks out of the area. However, Chau Hong Commune People's Committee has not reported to the District People's Committee and has not handled the violation according to regulations.

In recent times,The Chairman of the District People's Committee has directed the District Police to coordinate with Department PC05 - Provincial Police to focus on verification. On the night of July 23, 2020, in Chau Quang commune, a truck with license plate 37C - 169.60 pulling a trailer with license plate 37R - 017.06 driven by Mr. Nguyen Van Trong (born in 1990, residing in Nghia Binh commune, Nghia Dan) was discovered, inspected, and temporarily detained, carrying about 32m³table stone (similar to quartz stone as mentioned above). This stone belongs to Mr. Phan Ba ​​Son (residing in Lien Tan hamlet, Tho Hop commune, Quy Hop), transported from Chau Hong commune. Currently, Department PC05 - Nghe An Provincial Police is in the process of investigating, verifying and clarifying.

Car with license plate 37C - 169.60 pulling trailer with license plate 37R - 017.06 was identified as a vehicle transporting illegal minerals (about 32m3tons of quartz stone). Photo: Contributor

From the above inspection and verification, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Hop district concluded:

In the Na Ban Xa area, within the land area of ​​Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, there is illegal mineral exploitation (natural stone containing quartz but the content is unknown), the volume at the scene is about 30m³, the volume of transportation out of the area is there but has not been determined, the area of ​​illegal exploitation is about 1,500 m².

Road widening and lowering of elevation to transport glue and exploit illegal mineral exploitation and transportation is real.

Chau Hong Commune People's Committee inspected and discovered that when illegally mining minerals, they asked Mr. Nguyen Van Nam's family to stop and not transport rocks out of the area. However, Chau Hong Commune People's Committee did not promptly report to the District People's Committee and did not prevent and handle it thoroughly.

The quartz stone truck with license plate 37C - 169.60 pulling a trailer with license plate 37R - 017.06 is an illegal mineral truck; about 32m³The tons of quartz stone transported by the car with license plate 37C - 169.60 pulling the trailer with license plate 37R - 017.06 mentioned above are illegal minerals transported from Chau Hong commune, suspected to be from the illegal mineral mining area mentioned above.

Illegally mined quartz ore on vehicle with license plate 37C-169.60. Photo: Contributor

From the above conclusions, it can be seen that the Nghe An Electronic Newspaper on July 16, 2020 reported signs of illegal mineral exploitation as true. Some contents reported by the District People's Committee in Official Dispatch No. 705/UBND.TNMT dated July 22, 2020 were not objective and accurate.

The Chairman of the District People's Committee assigned the Chau Hong Commune People's Committee to strictly manage and protect mineral resources according to regulations, not to let illegal mineral exploitation recur; coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and related departments, agencies and branches to handle violations; and review and clarify the responsibilities of relevant groups and individuals. At the same time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to preside over the collection of all records and documents and coordinate with related agencies to advise the Chairman of the District People's Committee to handle violations; advise and report to Nghe An Newspaper, the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and related departments and branches.

Quy Hop District People's Committee committed to directing Chau Hong Commune People's Committee and relevant departments and offices to strictly handle violations. Photo: Contributor

Also in Report No. 726/UBND-TN, it is stated that although there has been direction to promptly handle the reported information, as the head of the District People's Committee, the Chairman of the District People's Committee would like to take responsibility for some inaccurate and objective report contents in Official Dispatch No. 705/UBND.TNMT dated July 22, 2020.

At the same time, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district committed that in the coming time, it will direct the People's Committee of Chau Hong commune and related departments and offices to strictly handle the above violations. The results of the handling will be reported to Nghe An Newspaper and related levels and sectors.

Nhat Lan