Ngoc Linh Company Limited was approved by the People's Committee of Bac Kan province (old) for investment in the project to build a lead-zinc ore mining and processing project in the Phja Dam - Khuoi Man area (Bang Thanh commune) in October 2023.
Although the procedures have not been completed and the authorities have not allowed, the unit is still brazenly leveling and building many works and factories on forest land.
According to local people, the leveling and construction of the works will be carried out from April 2025. After a while, the people's forestry and crop land turned into solid camps and factories.
According to Lao Dong Newspaper, on October 29, in the Phja Lan hill area (Pha Dam village), a trail leading to the factory area was widened from 4 - 5 meters, nearly 2km long. Going deeper into Phja Lan hill, thousands of square meters of forestry land have been leveled.
Inside dozens of constructions and factories that have been built, there are worries in the middle of the hill. A transformer station has also been installed solidly, along with tangled power lines.
Ms. Ly Mui Lai (Pha Dam village) said that from around April 2025, the company will bring leveling machinery to build roads and then build factories. The construction area of the works was previously cultivated land of the people.
"Some households with land there have agreed to compensate themselves and receive compensation from the company. The road leading to the factory area has now been widened to 4-5 meters, affecting many areas of people's production forests," said Ms. Lai.
According to the investigation of the reporter, in the face of illegal construction of Ngoc Linh Company Limited, on August 26, the People's Committee of Bang Thanh commune inspected and requested the unit to stop all activities and provide related documents.
However, ignoring the instructions, the unit later continued to build additional items in the project.
By the end of September 2025, the People's Committee of Bang Thanh commune continued to inspect and discovered a leveling unit on an area of over 3.3 hectares, building 11 workshops with an area of 1,800m2.
In the Lung Che hill area, the company opened a road through the production forest, the length of the route is 1,879m, the roadbed is from 5m to 7m wide.
In the record, the company admitted to agreeing with the households about land compensation. The unit has not yet carried out procedures for reclaiming and converting forest land use purposes, and does not have a construction permit.
Explaining the above issue to the inspection team, the representative of Ngoc Linh Company said that in March 2025, the unit had asked for the opinion of the People's Committee of Pac Nam district (old) to build a basic mine project and had been approved in writing by the People's Committee of Pac Nam district.
However, according to the conclusion of the People's Committee of Bang Thanh commune, the company's acts of leveling and creating premises showed signs of land destruction. Construction of houses, workshops, and road opening have not been permitted by competent authorities. At the same time, the locality requires the company to complete the procedures before starting construction.
On October 30, speaking with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Ca Van Thuong - Chairman of Bang Thanh Commune People's Committee said that the locality had reported to superiors to have a plan to check and handle the situation thoroughly.
According to local inspections, the leveling of roads and construction of auxiliary works of Ngoc Linh Company Limited showed signs of violating many acts in different fields, large violation areas, and complicated cases.
