Vice Chairman of the Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Trong has just signed a decision approving appraisal results about the environmental impact assessment report for the Hoa Hung - 5 sand mining investment project in Hoa Hung Commune, Cai Be District, the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.
Accordingly, the Hoang Hai Joint Stock Company is a contractor of the Hoa Hung - 5 sand mining extraction investment project, which is one of the sand mines providing approximately 6.6 million cubic meters of sand serving the Ring Road No.3 investment and construction project in Ho Chi Minh City as regulated.
The sand extraction area is located in the Tien River’s riverbed in Hoa Hung Commune, covering a total water surface area of 13.59 hectares, with an extraction capacity of 400,000 cubic meters per year.
The sand mine is permitted to operate within four years and two months; and the time for environmental restoration and mine closure is six months.
Vice Chairman of the Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Trong required the sand mining units to comply with sand extraction in directions from upstream to be deposited in the downstream area, from the middle of the river to the riverbank in Hoa Hung Commune.
Additionally, sands are permitted to mine at a depth of 20 meters as designed.
In order to avoid changing the direction of riverbed flow and erosions due to large whirlpools, the mining of river sand must ensure a safe distance of at least 200 meters far from shore.
The project owner must immediately stop mining activities and cooperate with relevant authorities to assess and mitigate the problems if any.
There are 31 mining areas in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, with a total reserve of approximately 41.8 million cubic meters following the provincial planning approved by the Prime Minister.
Of these, 18 mining areas were previously granted exploitation licenses but have expired and have been suspended the operation since 2013. The 13 remaining areas have been granted exploration licenses, approved their reserves but have not yet received exploitation licenses.
