For many years now, the already severely degraded asphalt roads in Hamlet 6 (Quynh Tan Commune, Quynh Luu District) have had to bear the burden of a continuous stream of trucks passing back and forth. Especially the road from Hamlet 6 to the neighboring Ngoc Son Commune. These large trucks mostly depart from Thung Buong Slope, carrying soil and rocks for leveling and construction.
The trucks rumbled day and night for a long time, challenging the patience of the people. Out of frustration, the locals set up barriers in the hope of limiting them somewhat, but they were helpless. “They run without any specific schedule, day or night. The roads are bad, but the trucks still run at high speed, which is very dangerous. On sunny days, dust flies everywhere, and on rainy days, the roads are full of deep holes,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Trung (72 years old), in Hamlet 6, Quynh Tan Commune.
According to Mr. Trung, the problem of illegal mining in Thung Buong has been going on for many years. After illegal stone mining, it is now soil mining. The roads in Hamlet 6, which used to be beautifully paved with asphalt, were destroyed by large trucks in a short time. Many roads here now have no asphalt left. Instead, they are full of potholes, jagged rocks, and mud. On rainy days, small cars have to struggle to get through the short distance leading to the village.
“They destroyed the roads. Before, trucks ran continuously, and in the dry season, dust flew everywhere. The worst thing was for those who lived near the road. Trucks ran loudly all night, making both dust and noise,” Mr. Trung added. To save the road, in recent years, people in his hamlet had to build many barriers together, hoping that the trucks would run slower. However, that solution was still ineffective. Trucks still ran in and out of Thung Buong to transport minerals. Especially on the road from hamlet 6, Quynh Tan commune to Ngoc Son commune.
Not only illegally excavating soil, at Len Thung Buong there is also a licensed stone quarry but the People's Committee of Nghe An province has revoked the license, requiring it to stop mining activities for nearly 3 years now. The reason is that during the mining process, the company did not strictly follow the planning and mining location as originally designed. When all the soil and rock within the mine were exploited, the company took advantage of the exploitation to encroach on the forestry production forest land of adjacent households. Although it was requested to close, however, this company still secretly exploited minerals to transport and sell. Len Thung Buong now has only eroded, jagged mountains after many years of being "mineral bandits" and especially the dilapidated roads.
Provincial Road 532 passes through the communes of Chau Quang, Chau Cuong, Chau Hong, Chau Tien of Quy Hop District (Nghe An) with a length of nearly 35 km. It is the lifeline of hundreds of thousands of households here in terms of trade and economic development. However, in recent years, this road has been destroyed, making traffic extremely difficult.
In particular, the section from Chau Thanh commune intersection to Chau Hong commune, about 9 km long, has seriously degraded. The road surface is deformed, full of potholes. This is also the route leading to the area considered the "mineral capital" with dozens of mines of all kinds, especially white stone. In the dry season, the houses along both sides of the road are covered with thick layers of dust. In the rainy season, the soil and rocks are muddy, and vehicles have to struggle to cross "ponds" in the middle of the road. According to local people, trucks carrying minerals from stone and ore mines are the main cause of road damage.
Provincial Road 532 was built about 40 years ago. For many years now, the already dilapidated road has had to carry thousands of trucks carrying rocks every day. “Living in a mineral area, what we see before our eyes is environmental pollution and seriously degraded roads. Trucks carrying minerals back and forth cause dust and we dare not open the door, but we do not know who to call. We have seen repairs done many times but to no avail, and after a while, the damage becomes worse,” said a resident of Chau Hong commune whose house is next to Provincial Road 532.
According to the leaders of Chau Hong commune, the degraded road has seriously affected the travel and trade of people in the area. The commune has repeatedly sent written petitions to the district and province, and this issue has been mentioned many times in meetings with voters, but the situation is still "there". The cause of the above situation is partly due to the road being built a long time ago and not being upgraded or repaired. In addition, there are many quarries on this route, so the traffic of heavy trucks carrying minerals is very high.
“A few years ago, there was also a project to invest in this road. However, after their working group inspected Chau Hong commune, they refused to invest in building Provincial Road 532 because there were too many mineral mines and too many heavy trucks passing by regularly. And they had to transfer the project to Que Phong district,” said the leader of Chau Hong commune.
Currently, to cope, Chau Hong commune leaders often have to call for support from businesses to repair the road. “We have to ask for crushed stone from local businesses to fill in the deep holes on the road. If we do not do this regularly, cars will not be able to pass this road because of the scratches on the chassis. However, this is only a temporary solution,” said Mr. Truong Van Hoa - Chairman of Chau Hong Commune People's Committee.
