Lao Dong has published an article reflecting on the illegal construction of a resort on a hill in Thai Ba hamlet, Thien Ke commune (Son Duong district). Once a vast, gliding hill, the land was leveled to build stilt houses, swimming pools... and even encroached on the Tam Dao National Park planning.
Struggling due to lack of water
While present at the resort, the reporter witnessed many local people having to climb into the forest to find water to bring downstream. Plastic pipes are being flowed through the stream and forest with the hope of getting water from the stream upstream.
According to local people, the construction of the resort has partly affected the source of domestic water. In addition to the encroached monochord stream, the resort also uses a large water pipe to drain all the water upstream.
Mr. Bang Van Hung (Thien Ke commune) said that before, the stream was full of water, the downstream area did not have to be as hard as this. The stream water here has served the daily life of hundreds of households for many years.
"When it is a acacia hill, everything is normal, but when making a resort, the leveling activity changes many status quo. The road leading to the mountains of the people is pushed close to the stream. The rocks change the flow, many parts fill the stream, making it difficult for people to lack water.
With the same frustration, Mr. Bang Van Manh (Thien Ke commune) was both hesitant to pull the water pipe and pointed to the dry stream.
"What has happened to Suoi before to be so bare. The resort level the stream, making the stream narrow, and the rocks and soil blocked half of the stream bed. People are now living hard due to lack of domestic water. Hopefully there will be a solution to reduce people's suffering, but if this situation continues, we don't know what to do," Mr. Manh was upset.
According to Mr. Manh, when building the resort, this unit used a water pipeline from upstream. The water pipes are designed to be large, pulling high upstream, making it difficult for people to use small water pipes. The resort pulls water back to serve construction, swimming pools, and watering plants, while people downstream are struggling with lack of domestic water.
ignoring instructions
At a meeting with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Luong Van Chien - a cadastral officer of Thien Ke commune - said that the location where the illegal resort is being built was initially a plot of land allocated to Mr. Nguyen Van Tu in 1994 for afforestation. In April 2022, Mr. Tu transferred it to Mr. Nguyen Van Tan.
In July 2024, there was illegal leveling activities in this land, so the People's Committee of Thien Ke commune issued a decision to fine No. 60/QD-XPHC for land destruction.
"At that time, it was discovered that there was a situation of illegal leveling machinery, so the commune imposed administrative penalties for land destruction. In October 2024, the commune coordinated with the forest rangers to inspect and discovered that this unit had illegally built many stilt houses. The commune has repeatedly requested to stop construction due to wrong land use purposes, but they do not comply and still illegally build stilt houses," said Mr. Chien.
According to the cadastral officer of Thien Ke commune, the locality only imposed an administrative fine of 3.5 million VND for land destruction. Due to limited authority, the locality has repeatedly reported to the district to resolve the illegal construction according to regulations. Recently, the district and the police have come down to verify to handle it thoroughly.
When the reporter requested access to the documents and inspection records at the illegal resort, the representative of the People's Committee of Thien Ke commune said that there is currently no set of documents, because all documents have been provided to the police and superiors for inspection and handling.
While the authorities have repeatedly requested to temporarily suspend the construction of the resort due to not changing the land use purpose, some locations are under the Tam Dao National Park planning, in reality the project is still causing many consequences.
Talking to PV Lao Dong newspaper, Mr. Le Hong Long - Head of Son Duong District Forest Protection Department said that after grasping the information, through review, the total illegal resort area in Thai Ba village is about 7.5ha. In particular, the land is part of the National Park planning accounting for 6.5ha. The land allocated to the People's Committee of the commune managed 1ha including 0.4ha of production forest land with owners, 0.6ha of non -forestry land. The station has advised the commune People's Committee to issue a document to direct and handle it completely.
According to Mr. Hoang Van Nien - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son Duong district, the unit has coordinated with the People's Committee of Thien Ke commune to inspect and measure at the resort, and when the results are available, it will be handled.
