Inter-sectoral delegation inspects, sand pirates absent
The delegation moved by boat along the river area, passing through some locations that Lao Dong Newspaper mentioned where illegal sand mining occurred at night. Also on the boat, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters pointed out the locations where many boats lined up to illegally mine sand. Through observation, Mr. Tran Xuan Thanh - Deputy Head of the Department of Minerals and Climate Change, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri province - assessed that these landslide locations occurred about half a month ago. This coincides with the record, because when the illegal sand mining incident was reported by the newspaper, sand pirates stopped operating, meaning the landslide situation here decreased.
Through local reports and actual inspection results, it can be affirmed that the situation of illegal sand and gravel mining on the Gianh River taking place at night is real. The landslide situation may be due to many reasons, but the cause of illegal sand mining cannot be ruled out" - Mr. Thanh said.
Answering Lao Dong Newspaper, the leader of the Quang Tri Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment said that after the field inspection, the unit will report to the Provincial People's Committee, and at the same time advise the Provincial People's Committee to direct functional forces to strengthen patrols, inspections and strictly handle violations.
In addition to advising on handling illegal sand mining subjects, the Department of Agriculture and Environment will conduct a review of enterprises licensed to mine sand and have sand storage yards in Tan Gianh and Tuyen Hoa communes, if violations are detected during operation, it will resolutely not renew the license.
Applying many synchronous measures to stop sand pirates
Mr. Tran Khanh Linh - Chairman of Tuyen Hoa Commune People's Committee said that after merging administrative units, Tuyen Hoa commune has established an inter-sectoral team of 30 people to strengthen inspection, especially at night, when subjects often take advantage of it to mine sand.
Although they have been arrested, recorded and handled violations, the penalty level is not enough to deter, so some subjects still repeat their actions. However, after Lao Dong Newspaper reflected, the government and functional forces drastically intervened, and so far the situation of sand mining on the river has decreased significantly" - Mr. Linh said.
Currently, Tuyen Hoa commune has directed functional forces to maintain regular patrols on the river to promptly detect and handle violations. Meanwhile, Tan Gianh commune has also established inter-sectoral teams to inspect and control on the Gianh river route, in order to prevent the recurrence of illegal sand mining.
In particular, the waterway and road traffic police force of Quang Tri Provincial Police also strengthened inspections of operations on rivers and sand transportation on roads. Ships and boats with engines and equipment capable of sucking sand are also required to dismantle and cut off parts serving illegal mining activities.
Colonel Dang Van Hoanh - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of Quang Tri Provincial Police - said that the unit has advised the leaders of the Provincial Police to issue documents directing professional departments and commune police to conduct statistics and review all vehicles, individuals, and organizations related to sand and gravel mining activities and other types of resources.
“We strengthen inspection and closed control of the area to promptly detect and strictly handle illegal resource exploitation acts. At the same time, direct the Road Traffic Police force to coordinate in checking invoices and documents related to resource trading, weighing the weight of transport vehicles to synchronously handle violations in the field of resource exploitation and transportation” - Colonel Hoanh said.
From February 13, Lao Dong Newspaper started publishing a series of investigative articles "Bringing sand pirates on the Gianh River to light". According to reporters' records, many large-capacity ships appeared at night, close to the riverbank and then placed suction pipes to "gut" the riverbed. Sand was pumped continuously throughout the night before being transported to the gathering yards. During the day, many heavy trucks lined up to the sand yards to transport it for consumption. This illegal sand mining activity has caused serious landslides on both banks of the Gianh River, passing through Tan Gianh and Tuyen Hoa communes. Faced with the complexity of the case, the group of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters coordinated with the Task Force of the Economic Police Department, Quang Tri Provincial Police to organize the siege and arrest of illegal sand mining subjects. On February 5, two ships and many illegal sand mining subjects were arrested on the river. The owner of the gathering yard admitted to hiring people to mine sand illegally. Currently, the case is being further investigated and handled
