After villagers spoke up about businesses allowed to overmine sand in Phu Yen, provincial authorities vouched to look further into the matter. The People’s Committee and relevant agencies are reportedly taking actions to ensure better area management. Public biddings of legal mining sites are also in motion.
Regarding the illegal sand mining cases in Nghe An and Ha Tinh, district and commune-level forces are to keep guard 24/7 to promptly detect and sanction violators, said the Head of Natural Resources and Environment Division of Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province.
In Duc Tho district, there are 3 sand mines that have been licensed, the local authorities have required 3 mining owners to sign a commitment to comply with the time, location and not to exploit at night.
There are 3 licensed sand mines in Duc Tho District whose owners were recently required by law not to over-mine in any way.
According to several spokesmen from Thua Thien - Hue Province, alternative sources to river sand to be used in construction are being looked into, including artificial sand, sediment from hydroelectric reservoir, and inland dunes. The capacity of these sources have not been fully exploited and can meet long-term construction demands.
The Deputy Chief of Office of Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Committee in a meeting suggested grinding debris and other used materials into sand to minimize the need to mine natural sand.
Meanwhile, illegal sand mining is taking place mostly in border areas between provinces due to localities’ apparently shifting the responsibilities onto each other.
Deputy Head of Binh Dinh National Assembly Delegation commented that localities must work in unison to ensure all grounds are covered in preventing illegal sand mining.
