Strictly manage the exploitation of sand and gravel from Nam Mo riverbed

(Baonghean) - Currently, the demand for sand and gravel for construction in Ky Son district is very large, but because no unit has been licensed to exploit them, the transportation price that people and organizations have to pay is many times higher.

Due to urgent construction needs, in 2015, the People's Committee of Ky Son district allowed a cooperative to exploit sand and gravel in an area of ​​the Nam Mo River through Ta Ca commune. The unit organizing the exploitation of sand and gravel in the Nam Mo Riverbed is the Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative. In order to exploit, in 2015, this unit submitted an application "requesting exploitation of sand and gravel in the riverbed" to the People's Committee of Ky Son district.

The petition stated: “Experience shows that the amount of river sand and gravel in the communes of Ta Ca, Huu Kiem and Chieu Luu is large and can be sufficient to meet the needs of building civil works in Ky Son district. River sand and gravel are scattered along the river, and do not form mines. Our cooperative finds that collecting sand and gravel is a practical way to create jobs, increase income for local people and reduce deforestation for slash-and-burn farming…”.

Sand suction boat of Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative. Photo: Ha Giang

Before the application and documents of Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative, on November 13, 2015, in Official Dispatch No. 925/UBND-TNMT, the People's Committee of Ky Son district allowed this unit to exploit sand and gravel from the Nam Mo riverbed in Nhan Ly village, Canh village (Ta Ca commune) and Hom village (Huu Kiem commune). Exploitation period is 3 years (from the date of issuance of Official Dispatch No. 925); exploitation scale is by small capacity vacuum machine; exploitation form is using vacuum machine to search and exploit natural accumulation of sand and gravel that is not a mine.

In Official Dispatch 925, the People's Committee of Ky Son District requested Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative to fully comply with State regulations and local conventions; not to affect the environment, public works, and security and order in the area; and to fully perform its obligations to the State. With the approval of Ky Son District, Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative simultaneously organized sand and gravel mining and set up a business wharf in Canh village, Ta Ca commune.

In March 2017, in response to press reports, Ky Son district conducted an inspection and determined that the exploitation was a violation of the law, because Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative did not meet the requirements for legal procedures and had not been granted a license by a competent authority. In addition, Ky Son district's permission for Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative to exploit sand and gravel in November 2015 was not within its authority.

Therefore, after inspection, the People's Committee of Ky Son district suspended the sand and gravel mining activities of Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative. At the same time, on April 28, 2017, Ky Son district issued Decision 149/QD-UBND on canceling Official Dispatch No. 925/UBND-TNMT dated November 13, 2015 for the reason: "The content of the dispatch issued was beyond the authority according to the provisions of law allowing Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative to exploit sand in Canh village, Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district".

Discussing the matter of agreeing to let Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative exploit sand, according to a leader of Ky Son district, the reason is because of the urgent need for sand and gravel in infrastructure construction, local works and people. In recent years, Ky Son has received attention from the Central Government, the province and organizations that have invested in building infrastructure works; in addition, it is implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Construction, building rural traffic infrastructure, so the demand for sand and gravel is quite large.

However, if sand and gravel had to be purchased from the lowlands, the construction cost would increase significantly, increasing the investment rate of the project and directly affecting the economic life of the people. Therefore, based on the provisions of Point a, Clause 2, Article 81 of the Law on Minerals, Ky Son district assigned Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative to collect sand and gravel.

Sand trading yard of Binh Luu agricultural sand and gravel cooperative in Canh village, Ta Ca commune (Ky Son). Photo: Ha Giang

To ensure compliance with the procedures and regulations of the law, since June 2016, Ky Son district has issued Official Letter 504 on requesting approval to collect sand and gravel from the hydroelectric reservoir to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The official letter reports the actual situation of the locality and the fact that the district has assigned Binh Luu Agricultural - Sand and Gravel Cooperative to collect sand and gravel, so that the Provincial People's Committee can consider and approve Ky Son to collect sand and gravel.

The district leader also said that recently, in addition to suspending the exploitation activities of Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative, Ky Son district continued to send a written request to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to request approval to collect sand and gravel from the hydroelectric reservoir.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Tran Van Toan - Head of the Minerals Division, Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the department has received an official dispatch from Ky Son district. “Ky Son district has similar characteristics to other mountainous districts, which is having sand and gravel resources accumulated in the riverbed; however, the reserves are small and scattered, not meeting the conditions for granting a license to exploit minerals for common construction materials according to regulations.

Meanwhile, the exploitation of sand and gravel minerals from riverbeds in Ky Son can easily lead to impacts on infrastructure works, roads, etc. Therefore, although the proposal of Ky Son district is a reality that needs to be considered, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will have to coordinate with relevant agencies to inspect and determine before advising the Provincial People's Committee," Mr. Toan affirmed.

From the reality in Ky Son district, it can be seen that as a mountainous border district, the cost of transporting sand and gravel in this locality is extremely expensive. If the sand and gravel are mined locally, the value of one cubic meter of sand and gravel to the foot of the construction site is about 80,000 - 100,000 VND. Meanwhile, if sand is purchased from Tuong Duong district, it is about 400,000 - 500,000 VND/cubic meter; with sand and gravel from Tan Ky, Do Luong... the price is many times higher.

Therefore, after the Binh Luu Agricultural Sand and Gravel Cooperative was suspended from operating, organizations and households with construction needs were very worried. However, next to the Nam Mo River are traffic systems, or public works, residential areas... so the consideration of allowing sand and gravel exploitation needs to be very careful.

Mr. Tran Van Toan said: “Decree 158/2016/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Minerals has new regulations, solving difficulties in the management and exploitation of minerals at the local level. Regarding the issue of sand and gravel exploitation in Ky Son, according to Decree 158, the Provincial People's Committee has full authority to consider allowing the recovery of sand within the scope of construction projects. However, it will be necessary to check and determine each location where exploitation is allowed. In addition, this locality must have strict management measures to avoid illegal exploitation leading to consequences…”.

Ha Giang