Request for inspection after feedback
On August 19, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri province confirmed that this unit had a document requesting the People's Committee of Quang Tri ward to inspect and handle the situation of illegal sand and gravel mining on the Thach Han River.
According to the document, Lao Dong Newspaper on August 13 published the article "Sand thieves drag sand through the night to drain the Thach Han River", reflecting the situation of sand dredgers operating at night in many locations on the river, from the An Don area to Thanh Co bridge.
According to reports, boats often appear late at night, suck sand for many hours and then move to gathering points in the An Don area to pump sand ashore. At times, many boats operate on the same river section.
Based on management functions and tasks, the Department of Agriculture and Environment requests the People's Committee of Quang Tri ward to coordinate in inspecting and verifying the reality in the reflected area; thereby clarifying the location, scale of operation and related organizations and individuals.
In case of detecting the exploitation, transportation or gathering of sand and gravel without a license, not in accordance with regulations, it is requested to promptly prevent and handle according to authority. Contents beyond authority will be summarized and reported to competent authorities for consideration.
The Department also requested the People's Committee of Quang Tri ward to strengthen information exchange, coordinate inspections in the border area, and at the same time study and build a coordination mechanism in mineral management and protection.
The results of inspection, verification and handling are required to be reported to the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Provincial People's Committee before August 22.
Establish night posts, clarify responsibilities
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper on August 19, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Anh - Chairwoman of Quang Tri Ward People's Committee said that the prevention of illegal sand mining on the Thach Han River has been focused on by the locality for a long time. Since the beginning of 2026, the Ward People's Committee has organized many meetings and issued documents requesting the Ward Police to focus forces on inspection and handling.
Not only assigning tasks, Quang Tri Ward People's Committee has also allocated funds to serve this task for Quang Tri Ward Police.
However, in reality, illegal sand mining still occurs. After press reports, ward leaders continued to request specific inspections of each area, shift and related sand gathering locations.
I am requesting clarification of the sand mining location, which comrade's area, which leader was on duty at the time of sand mining, and also requesting inspection of the gathering yards to clarify" - Ms. Mai Anh said.
Also according to the Chairman of Quang Tri Ward People's Committee, after receiving feedback, the ward leaders directly went with the police force to inspect the mentioned areas. However, at the time of inspection, functional forces had not detected illegal sand mining activities.
To increase nighttime surveillance capabilities, the Ward Police are assigned to set up fixed checkpoints from 10 pm to 2 am in the railway bridge area, and at the same time organize continuous patrols in the Victory Monument area of Division 325 and the flower lantern wharf. Ward People's Committee leaders will conduct surprise inspections of the performance of tasks.
In addition to direct patrol measures, the ward plans to install 2 AI cameras on both banks of the Thach Han River. Images from the camera system will be transmitted to the Ward Police and the Ward People's Committee to monitor and detect unusual activities on the river.
In parallel with the inspection on the river, the Economic, Infrastructure and Urban Department is assigned to establish an inter-sectoral inspection team including economic, infrastructure and urban forces, tax and police to inspect sand trading and stockpiling activities. In which, the origin of sand at the stockpiling yards will be the content that will be focused on clarifying.
In the long term, Quang Tri Ward People's Committee is also considering the option of relocating sand storage yards in An Don. According to the ward leaders, these yards are no longer suitable for the ward's planning, but have been licensed, leased land for a long time and collected land use fees once.
