Unfinished anti-landslide embankment
In recent years, the Red River section flowing through Lao Cai province has often faced landslides, especially in communes and wards along the river.
In order to protect people's lives and property from the increasingly serious risk of landslides, authorities at all levels have implemented an anti-landslide project on the Red River bank.
Including the embankment project in Xuan Tang ward (Lao Cai city), on a land area of 14.9 hectares.
The project to prevent landslides on the Red River bank in Xuan Tang ward was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (formerly - PV), with a total investment of 300 billion VND. The Lao Cai Provincial Investment and Construction Project Management Board is the investor.
The embankment is 3,270m long, starting from the exit of Ngoi Duong stream, ending at Lang Giang bridge. The construction units are the Ministry of National Defense's 319 Corporation, Dai An Construction Investment Joint Stock Company and Construction Joint Stock Company 568.
The project has been implemented since February 2023 and is expected to be completed in December 2024.
However, up to now, the project is still sluggish and cannot be completed due to problems in site clearance.
In early April, according to Lao Dong, at the foot of Lang Giang bridge, many embankment sections were still unfinished. At the construction site, workers and machinery are constructing areas where the site has been cleared.
According to the Lao Cai Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board, the construction unit has coordinated with local authorities to mobilize and propagate people to clear trees, crops and hand over the site with a length of 1,937/3,209.6m (about over 60% of the route length).
Inadequacy because it both builds embankments and sucks sand
The embankment construction is urgent, but many people are also concerned because both dredging sand and building embankments can affect the life of the project.
In reality, there are large ships hooking sand on the riverbed, and there are some sections of the embankment that have not been completed.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Tuan (Xuan Tang ward) shared: "After the storm and flood in September 2024, ensuring the safety of households living on the riverbank became more urgent than ever. Therefore, people hope that the construction unit will soon complete the embankment before the upcoming storm season".
However, Mr. Tuan wondered, while the embankment was under construction on the riverbank and the riverbed was the activity of ships continuously setting up pipes to suck sand, it is unknown how long the embankment would last.
Through investigation, the above sand mine belongs to Gia Hung Thinh Company Limited. The unit is licensed for 5.1 hectares, exploited on the Red River in Soi Gia village and Giao Ngay village, Gia Phu commune and Thai Nien village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district, Xuan Tang ward gathering area. The licensing period after extension is 2.5 years from April 13, 2023.
Not far away, also in the river section where embankments are being built, there are activities of Cuong Tuan Private Enterprise in Xuan Tang Ward, Binh Minh Ward - Lao Cai City and Thai Nien Commune - Bao Thang District. The exploitation area is 3.31 hectares, within 15 years from February 24, 2021.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuyen (Lao Cai City) worried: "The continuous operation of sand suction ships makes us worried because the riverbank is at risk of landslides, affecting agricultural activities. Storm No. 3 in 2024 caused a lot of damage, now with these big ships, people are even more dangerous".
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhu Quynh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Xuan Tang Ward (Lao Cai City) said: Through the propaganda work of the local government, up to now, households have basically agreed to hand over the site for the construction unit to implement the anti-landslide embankment project.
Regarding the risk of landslides while dredging sand and building embankments, according to Ms. Quynh, the Lang Giang bridge area and the embankment construction site are not allowed to exploit sand, Gia Hung Thinh enterprise is only licensed to lease land to build a sand gathering area.
When the reporter provided images of the sand dredging near the embankment area, the Secretary of the Xuan Tang Ward Party Committee said he would let the verifier report.
On April 9, speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Tran Minh Sang - Director of Lao Cai Department of Agriculture and Environment said: It is up to the investor to know whether the sand dredging affects the quality of the embankment and whether there is a potential risk of landslides.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bui Minh Hai - Director of the Lao Cai Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board informed: "The unit will have people check the actual area of sand suction and the distance. If businesses exploit too closely, we will have warnings.
According to Mr. Hai, the unit's embankment project is currently under construction, but there are still a few hundred meters due to some land clearance problems. For the sections that could be done, the contractor mobilized human resources to focus on construction, which was basically reduced.
