Sand bandits blatantly gouged the Lo River

The sand gathering point is only 200m from the Town People’s Committee

Recently, people living in Son Lu town, Quan Son district (Thanh Hoa province) are upset about sand thieves raging on the Lo River, in the area around Nang Non cave (Pang area, Son town). Lu).

According to many locals, this is an open-air alluvial sandbank, so the exploitation is very simple. The subjects put the excavator into the river bed to directly shovel it, wait for the sand to dry, and then put it on large trucks to be consumed or transported to the gathering point.

It is worth mentioning that the sand gathering point blatantly exists along the Lo River, only about 200m from the People’s Committee of Son Lu town (Quan Son district), but mining activities are still taking place. People have complained many times to the authorities but have not been thoroughly dealt with.

Talking to a reporter of Dan Viet Newspaper, Mr. Lu Van Chau – Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Son Lu town, Quan Son district confirmed that the town had received complaints from people about illegal sand mining at this location. . But it is difficult to check and catch because the object of sand mining at night, while the force of the local government is thin (?)

“At one point, after receiving people’s complaints about illegal sand mining, when the forces were mobilized to the scene, for some reason, the subjects were able to erase their traces” – Mr. Chau added. .

Report no interest but still ask for more?

According to a reporter from Dan Viet Newspaper, the above sand collection site belongs to Quynh Phuong Quan Son Co., Ltd. with a registered business address in Son Lu town, Quan Son district (Thanh Hoa province).

Previously, on January 15, 2018, this company was granted a license by the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province to exploit sand as a common material in the Lo River, the section through Son Lu town. On January 15, 2021, the mining license expired.

However, despite the expiration of the mining period, over the past year, this company has not closed the mine, renovated and restored the environment according to regulations. During its operation, in November 2019, Quynh Phuong Quan Son Co., Ltd. was fined VND 6,000,000 by Quan Son District People’s Committee due to the error of missing 4 landmarks at 4 corners of the area where mineral mining is allowed. .

Notably, in the mining report for 2020, the mining volume of this enterprise is only 1,198m2, the total revenue is more than 143 million VND, and the state budget is more than 10 million VND.

Such a weak resource, but by the end of 2021, this company will carry out procedures to apply for investment policy approval at the location where the exploitation period has expired and is approved by most advisory agencies from the district to the province. agree to the project proposal.

In the proposal of an investment project at the old location, Quynh Phuong Quan Son Co., Ltd. also gave a figure of exploiting capacity of only 1,000 m3/year, profit after tax of just over 166 million VND/year (?)

The district said “no more illegal sand, stone and gravel mining”?

Regarding the illegal sand mining on the Lo River, the reporter had a meeting with Mr. Truong Trong Tuan – Vice Chairman of the District People’s Committee and Mr. Tran Van Boi – Head of the Quan Son District Natural Resources and Environment Department. Both confirmed that sand mining on the Lo River is mainly to serve the construction of new rural areas and some households, due to difficult economic conditions, should make use of sand to build houses (?)

In addition, the district has many documents directing branches and localities in the district to strengthen the management and supervision of mineral exploitation activities.

The head of the Quan Son District Natural Resources and Environment Department – Mr. Tran Van Boi also confirmed that the excavator of Quynh Phuong Quan Son Co., Ltd. was seized by the environmental police.

But when the reporter asked to be provided with a record of inspection and seizure of the excavator vehicle of Quynh Phuong Quan Son Co., Ltd., both the People’s Committee of Quan Son town and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Quan Son district (both units) of the inspection team) are not provided.

“The district has had a match with the police, the police are handling the file to handle the fine. When it is finished, it can be transferred, currently the excavator is still being held,” said Mr. Tran Van Boi – Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Quan Son district added.

It is known that in Official Letter No. 40/UBND-TNMT dated January 10, 2022 of Quan Son District People’s Committee on strengthening state management over sand and gravel mining activities on rivers, streams and beaches. Illegal depositing, this agency commented: “…the illegal exploitation of sand, stone and gravel of unknown origin has ceased to exist, which has made an important contribution to ensuring social order and safety, creating a conditions for socio-economic development in the district”.

According to the report of Quan Son District People’s Committee, from 2018 to now, there have been 17 cases of violations in mineral exploitation in the area, which have been fined with a total amount of more than 103 million VND. Illegal sand mining causes loss of resources, causes disorder in the locality, risks changing flows, landslides riverbanks, threatens the safety of people’s lives, especially in the rainy season. flood…

Dan Viet Newspaper will continue to report on this incident…