Truck plowing residential road
For nearly 2 years, the peaceful life of the people of Thanh Long commune, Thanh Cong 1 village has been disrupted by the mining and transportation of minerals from the quarry of Hoang Son Construction and Transportation Company Limited (Hoang Son Company). Every day, hundreds of large and small trucks snake and swarm on the already narrow dirt road.
Recorded in the last days of December 2024, the only route from National Highway 2 through Thanh Cong 1 village to Hoang Son Company's quarry is less than 3km long but it will take nearly half an hour to travel because the road surface has been plowed unevenly by heavy trucks and the sidewalks are destroyed.
Ms. Tran Thi Hai (Thanh Cong 1 village) said that large and small trucks loaded with rocks run in convoys. This road used to be a dirt road covered with crushed stone, but now it has been plowed up, and is dusty in the sun and muddy in the rain, making it very difficult to travel.
“The villagers have gathered several times to block trucks from passing through. It’s so miserable. The worst thing is the children who have to walk next to these trucks to go to school every day,” Ms. Hai said worriedly.
With a house right next to the mine entrance, Ms. Dam Thi Than had to buy many plastic tarps to cover the front porch because of the dust and vibrations caused by the rock blasting and the large trucks rumbling by every day.
According to local people, at public meetings or meetings with voters, many opinions about the negative impacts of the mining and transportation of stone from Hoang Son Company's quarry have been petitioned to the authorities but there has been almost no change.
Speaking to reporters, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam - Chairman of Thanh Long Commune People's Committee confirmed: "The people's complaints are well-founded, people blocking trucks has happened before. We have also gone to check, verify and asked the company to take remedial measures many times."
Quarry abetting overloaded vehicles?
On the morning of December 25, within only 20 minutes of being present at the electronic weighing station at the Hoang Son Company's quarry, the reporter recorded dozens of trucks and tractors bustling in and out to get stones. Most of the trucks were loaded with stones up to the edge of the container and were poorly covered.
Notably, almost all trucks passing through the electronic weighing station to control their weight before leaving the mine were overloaded by 50 to 100%. For example, at 10:00 a.m., the truck with license plate 19H 002.58 had a total weight of more than 40 tons, while this truck was only allowed to carry a maximum of 15 tons with a total body weight of 31 tons.
After leaving the quarry, they trudged across the destroyed residential road of Thanh Cong 1 village to Highway 2. These vehicles headed back towards the center of Ham Yen district or towards Tuyen Quang city to pour into construction sites.
Throughout the morning of December 25, although the convoy of trucks was operating vigorously and showed signs of being overloaded, reporters did not record the presence of any authorities.
Also on the morning of December 25, speaking with reporters, Major Tran Tien Dung - Captain of the Traffic Police Team (Ham Yen District Police) confirmed that the unit had handled a few cases of trucks violating regulations leaving the Hoang Son Company's mine. However, when reporters provided information about the overloaded trucks operating and requested the district's Traffic Police to come and inspect, Mr. Dung did not respond.
Meanwhile, informing reporters, a leader of Hoang Son Company did not hesitate to declare: "That place has been reported many times, just operate properly, now if there is more feedback, the district will come to verify."
It is known that in the first quarter of 2025, Ham Yen district will repair and pour concrete on the road section from National Highway 2 to Thanh Cong 1 village leading to Thanh Long Commune People's Committee with a total cost of about 19 billion VND. This is the lifelong dream of hundreds of households, however, with heavy trucks plowing and digging, people are worried that the newly invested billion-dollar concrete road will not last a few months.
