The People's Committee of Dien Chau District is addressing the issue raised in the newspaper report.

(Baonghean) - The February 26, 2013 issue of Baonghean Newspaper published an article titled "Chaos in 'Illegal' Passenger Buses with Lao License Plates in Dien Chau," reflecting the problem of illegal passenger buses with Lao license plates operating chaotically, leading to traffic congestion and posing a potential accident risk to road users in Dien Chau. These buses do not need to register at designated terminals, freely stopping to pick up passengers, and many are overloaded with passengers and goods, yet still pass through traffic checkpoints without a care.

After reviewing the content of the newspaper report and the directives of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee, the People's Committee of Dien Chau District issued Decision No. 690/QD-UBND, dated March 14, 2013, on the establishment of a working group to inspect, verify, and propose measures to handle violations regarding the management and use of vehicles and the transportation of passengers and goods by foreign-registered vehicles in Dien Chau District, with the Deputy Head of the District Police as the group leader.

Following the inspection and verification results of the working group, the District People's Committee sent Official Letter No. 287/UBND-CT dated April 10, 2013 to Nghe An Newspaper as follows:

As reported by Nghe An Newspaper, in recent times, especially before, during, and after the Lunar New Year of Quy Ty 2013, in Dien Chau district, specifically in the communes of Dien Thap, Dien Xuan, Dien Hong, Dien Ky, and Dien Chau town, the number of passenger buses with Lao license plates operating has been bustling. This is due to local people in these communes working in Laos, contracting to rent or borrow vehicles to transport goods between Vietnam and Laos...

Besides that, there were also some passengers who were local people, family members working in Laos returning home for Tet (Lunar New Year) and then going back to work after Tet... But after January 2013, the number of these passenger buses decreased significantly, with only a few buses operating on the route each week...

Through inspection and verification, it has been revealed that in Dien Chau district, there are 41 passenger buses with license plates and registrations from Laos, managed and operated by Vietnamese nationals, including: 16 in Dien Hong, 4 in Dien Ky, 20 in Dien Thap, and 1 in Dien Chau town.

The task force conducted inspections and issued violation notices to 6 vehicle owners for operating their vehicles outside their designated routes, fining each case 650,000 VND; and summoned 9 vehicle owners to sign commitments not to violate regulations on passenger and goods transport business activities according to Government Decree No. 92/2001/ND-CP dated February 11, 2001, on the conditions for conducting transport business by automobile.

Currently, 26 out of the 41 passenger buses are operating in Laos and have not yet returned to Vietnam, so the task force has not summoned them, imposed penalties, or proceeded to obtain commitments from the vehicle owners.

To promptly and seriously address the aforementioned traffic safety violations, the People's Committee of Dien Chau District continues to direct the District Police, relevant agencies, local authorities, and commune police to strengthen the management of transport vehicles in the area, bring transport activities within the framework of the law, fully record each vehicle, require vehicle owners to commit to the authorities not to violate traffic safety regulations, and strengthen patrol and control work to promptly handle violations at the grassroots level.

We request that the Road and Rail Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Public Security direct the Dien Chau Traffic Control Station to coordinate and strengthen patrol, control, and handling of violations by passenger transport vehicles with Lao license plates operating in the area, especially on national highways (because according to regulations and decentralization, district and commune police do not have the authority to inspect and handle violations on national highways).

The People's Committee of Dien Chau District sincerely thanks Nghe An Newspaper for its timely and accurate reporting of traffic safety violations by passenger transport vehicles with Lao license plates operating in the communes of Dien Chau District. The People's Committee acknowledges this and will continue to direct relevant agencies to inspect and handle the violations promptly in the coming time.