Resisting the police on duty on Lam River: Commune authorities do not cooperate!

Group of young people resisted law enforcement officers on Lam River

(Baonghean.vn) - “While inspecting a violating watercraft on the Lam River, the interdisciplinary inspection team led by the Department of Transport was obstructed by a number of individuals who acted in a dangerous manner to the team members…”.

On the morning of April 21, Mr. Phan Huy Chuong - Deputy Chief Inspector of Nghe An Department of Transport said that the Department's inspection team had not yet been able to draw up a record for the two vehicles that had converted the vehicles in a way that was not in accordance with the design approved by the inspection agency to dredge sand on Lam River, the border section between Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

A vehicle converted to mine sand on the Lam River was discovered by the Nghe An Department of Transport inspectors on the afternoon of April 20. (Photo provided by the inspection team)

“At that time, we informed the vehicle owners of the violation of “Converting vehicles not in accordance with the design approved by the inspection agency”, specifically the act of installing an additional pumping system to suck sand, and invited the owners of the two vehicles mentioned above to the sand wharf to work according to the request to dismantle, sign a commitment not to repeat the offense, but the two vehicle owners did not comply and left,” said Mr. Phan Huy Chuong - Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Transport, Head of the inspection team.

At 6:15 p.m., the two vehicles docked at Duc Quang commune, Duc Tho district (Ha Tinh) and the vehicle owner and two strange men left the boat to go ashore, not complying with the inspection team's request.

According to Mr. Chuong, this is a violation, disregard for the law, causing traffic insecurity, affecting the safety of those performing their duties, so the inspection team has drawn up a record of the incident, and at the same time requested the Duc Quang Commune Police (Duc Tho, Ha Tinh) to coordinate with relevant agencies to strictly handle the violations of the two vehicle owners mentioned above; verify the two subjects who directed the vehicle owners not to comply with the request of the Inspection Team and handle them in accordance with the provisions of law; receive the violating vehicles and hand over the documents related to the two vehicles HT-1104 and HT-1048.

The inland waterway vehicles involved in the violation were all mining sand. (Provided by the inspection team)

“When the vehicles landed at Duc Quang commune, we asked the local authorities and the commune police to coordinate in handling the situation, but we did not receive any cooperation from them. At 8:11 p.m., the Chief and Deputy Chief of Duc Quang Commune Police came out but did not say anything. They returned about 5 minutes later. When I called back, the Chairman of Duc Quang Commune People's Committee said that the commune police were handling the accident," said Mr. Phan Huy Chuong - Deputy Chief Inspector of Nghe An Department of Transport.

At 9:18 p.m. the same day, Mr. Chuong called again and received the same answer, while the mobile phone number of the Chief of Police of Duc Quang Commune was unreachable. At 10 p.m., the inspection team still could not make a record of the incident, so they had to leave.

Speaking over the phone, Mr. Chu Dinh Luu - Chairman of the People's Committee of Duc Quang Commune (Duc Tho, Ha Tinh) said that immediately after receiving the request for coordination from the Inspection Team of Nghe An Department of Transport, because he was busy with a meeting with the Social Policy Bank, he sent the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Commune Police to the scene.

"To make a record, we must determine whether the place where these sand-sucking vehicles were located belongs to Duc Quang or Nghe An, but the Nghe An Department of Transport Inspection Team could not determine it. Because the coordinates and sand-sucking point could not be determined, the two sides could not agree," said Mr. Luu, affirming that at more than 8:00 p.m. (April 20 - PV), there was an accident in Duc Quang commune, the commune police had to go and resolve it, and the inspection team's statement that the commune did not cooperate was incorrect.

Mr. Luu said that fighting illegal sand mining is a common responsibility, and no matter where it occurs, it must be handled seriously. The Chairman of the People's Committee of Duc Quang commune added that the owners of the inland waterway vehicles are not local people.

The offending vehicle left the scene and was pushed from behind by another vehicle, heading towards Ha Tinh province. (Photo provided by the inspection team)

However, according to Mr. Phan Huy Chuong, the Lam River route is entrusted by the Central Government to the locality for management, specifically the Nghe An Department of Transport. Any violations on that river route must be promptly detected and handled by the management unit in accordance with the provisions of law.

“We do not inspect sand and gravel mining, but only inspect the vehicles operating on that river for regulations on ensuring safety and order of inland waterway traffic for people and vehicles. Therefore, the commune’s request to provide sand mining coordinates is incorrect. Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces have signed a Regulation on coordination of State management of mineral resources in border areas.

The inspection team's request for the local authorities of Duc Quang commune to cooperate in handling inland waterway vehicles that violate regulations on the Lam River is appropriate. And I affirm that the local authorities at that commune level did not cooperate with the inspection team," said Mr. Chuong.