On August 16, at the socio-economic press conference for the third quarter of 2024 organized by the People's Committee of Tien Giang province, Mr. Doan Van Phuong - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tien Giang province - said that the Department had received and was considering Review the environmental impact assessment report of enterprises related to 3 river sand mines including: Vam Cai Thia, Hoa Khanh 1 and Hoa Hung 5 on Tien River, in Cai Be district (Tien Giang province).
According to Mr. Phuong, from September 2024, Tien Giang will license the exploitation of these sand mines to serve key transportation projects in the South. Tien Giang was assigned by the Government to provide 16 million m3 of river sand. In particular, in 2024 alone, the province will provide more than 3 million m3 to the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project (this entire project is 6 million m3).
Talking about Tien Giang province's delay compared to the Government's expectations of sand supply progress, Mr. Phuong said that according to the exploitation plan until 2030, the whole province has 31 river sand mining areas. These areas were all planned before 2011 and no auction for exploitation rights was held. Most of the areas planned to exploit river sand have licensed exploration and exploitation... to businesses.
However, in 2013, due to serious riverbank erosion, the People's Committee of Tien Giang province decided to stop exploration and exploitation of all sand mines in the province. And due to the current demand for sand fill sources, Tien Giang will continue to explore and exploit sand mines again, continuing for businesses that have previously been licensed to explore and exploit (from 2013 and earlier).
"In order to not repeat the landslide phenomenon like at the time of exploration and exploitation in the past, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment advised the People's Committee of Tien Giang province on a plan to protect and exploit mineral resources for effective use. Effective, reasonable and does not negatively affect people's lives, as well as negatively impact the environment. Specifically, river sand mining is at least 200m from the shore, in the middle of the river Do not allow deep mining to affect the flow..." - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tien Giang province said.
According to Mr. Phuong, in addition to river sand mines serving key national transportation projects, in the coming time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tien Giang province will continue to allow businesses to conduct exploration and exploitation to serve key projects of the province, the region and private businesses.
