For many months now, on National Highway 37, through Thai Binh Commune, Yen Son District (Tuyen Quang), a wood storage area has appeared close to the traffic corridor, posing a potential safety risk for moving vehicles.
According to the reporter's records in mid-November 2024, the gathering place of the above wood workshop of Sao Viet Company Limited (temporarily called Sao Viet Company) is thousands of square meters wide, located along the National Highway 37, Rap Bridge section, through Binh Ca village, Thai Binh commune, Yen Son district.
Inside the wood workshop, the wood crushing machines were operating loudly, cars were coming and going busily. All around were logs lying around, piled up in piles. Some of the wood yards here were gathered close to the railings, the corridors of the road, many of the logs were jagged, sticking out of the piles, protruding onto the road, some of the trees protruded out onto the roadway, causing traffic safety problems.
According to local people, the situation of wood being piled up close to the roadside and sidewalk of National Highway 37 has been going on for many months now and it is like a trap for people and vehicles passing by.
Mr. Nguyen Van Sang (Yen Son district) said that since the above wood gathering point appeared, every time he passed this road, he felt insecure and worried. According to Mr. Sang, this area is a vital road connecting Tuyen Quang - Thai Nguyen, so the traffic density is very high, including many heavy trucks passing by. Meanwhile, the roadway of National Highway 37 is narrow, every time a truck passes, motorbikes and bicycles have to stay close to the roadside. Therefore, every time he passes the wood gathering point, he always carefully observes and proactively reduces speed to avoid colliding with logs protruding onto the roadway.
"I am very scared when passing here, especially at dusk or on rainy days, visibility is limited, just a little careless driving, not paying attention and hitting a log on the road, losing control, and falling onto the road is very dangerous. The most worrying thing is children passing here, if the situation of wood gathering rampantly close to the corridor continues, accidents are very likely to happen, threatening the health and lives of passersby" - Mr. Sang added.
Not only affecting traffic safety, dust, odor, and noise from wood crushing and burning activities at Sao Viet Company's wood workshop also affect the environment and lives of local people.
The wood yards are not covered, and every time it rains or is sunny, they give off a musty, sour smell. The noise from the crushers and vehicles carrying materials in and out is loud all day long, disrupting people's lives.
"In addition to the noise from production activities, they also have a furnace in their wood workshop. Every time this furnace is in operation, columns of black smoke billow up into the sky. On calm days, the black smoke does not rise high but falls to the ground, or is blown by the wind into residential areas. The pungent smell is scary just by smelling it. We hope that the local government will soon have a solution to handle this and relocate the wood gathering area so as not to affect the lives here," a local resident suggested.
Regarding the incident, informing reporters, Mr. Nguyen Manh Dung - Chairman of Thai Binh Commune People's Committee - said that the locality has grasped information about the gathering of wood close to the traffic corridor on National Highway 37.
According to the commune leader, gathering near the roadside and sidewalk affects and threatens the safety of people and vehicles passing through. In the coming time, the locality will inspect, remind the unit and handle violations if any.
