Tralas Automobile Factory in Xuat Hoa Commune, now Xuat Hoa Ward, Bac Kan City was granted an Investment Certificate by the People's Committee of Bac Kan Province on June 14, 2010 with a total investment of 42 billion VND by Tracimexco Automobile Manufacturing and Manufacturing Joint Stock Company (Tracimexco Company) as the Investor, with an expected capacity of 6,000 trucks/year.
At that time, this was one of the key projects of Bac Kan province. It was expected that after completion, it would create thousands of jobs for local workers, promoting socio-economic development.
However, after nearly 15 years of implementation, the Tralas Automobile Factory Project could not operate and fell into a state of disrepair, wasting investment resources and land resources.
According to the reporter, instead of manufacturing cars, since 2012, Tracimexco Company has applied to add the forest product processing and assembly line production lines for sawn timber and wooden chopsticks for export. However, the production of wooden chopsticks is not effective, the company continuously reports losses.
The production of wooden chopsticks has caused air pollution and polluted water sources for local people. By the end of 2017, the production line of wooden chopsticks had stopped and only peeled and sawed wooden boards.
According to PV's records in mid-September 2024, inside the Tralas Automobile Factory, there was no automobile production or assembly line installed; instead, a lumber processing workshop had sprung up.
The change from the Tralas automobile factory project to a forest products processing project has made local people worried about the smell and emissions... caused by wood production and processing activities.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tai (Bac Kan City) said: "Every late afternoon, smoke from the factory area rises up black, giving off a very unpleasant smell. Previously, the canal adjacent to the project was very clean, but since the wood factory started operating, there are almost no more shrimp and fish."
At the end of August 2024, in response to people's petitions about the Tralas Automobile Factory Project, the Department of Planning and Investment of Bac Kan province said that the Provincial People's Committee had notified and worked with the investor. At the same time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to advise the Provincial People's Committee to reclaim land from Tracimexco Company according to regulations.
Currently, Tracimexco Company still owes billions of dong in taxes and payments to the state budget. This enterprise also had its tax code closed in March 2020. Land recovery cannot be carried out due to lack of sufficient legal basis.
Some images recorded by PV:
