VietNamNet Bridge – Dong Nai Province has suspended all dredging and sand mining projects in the Dong Nai River.

Mining sand in the Dong Nai River. Dong Nai Province banned dredging and mining in the river on Monday. — VNS File Photo

Speaking at a meeting on sand mining management on Tuesday, Tu Nam Thanh, deputy director of the province’s Department of Transport, said all ongoing dredging and mining works have to cease.

A police spokesman said since late 2015 officers busted 80 illegal sand mining operations, including some large ones, and seized 37 boats and mining equipment.

Though the incidence of illegal sand exploitation in the Dong Nai River had reduced, it had not gone away, he said.

Huge profits and the lack of severe consequences - illegal sand miners do not face criminal charges - were the reason behind the rampant mining, he said.

Illegal sand collection sites also operated along riverbanks. A recent investigation found 49 of 60 such sites to be illegal, including 35 which purchased sand from illegal miners, according to the police.

To effectively stop the illegal mining in the Dong Nai River, all these illegal sites must be “eliminated”, it said.

Officials from Tan Phu and Dinh Quan districts said licensed miners in the upper Dong Nai do not scrupulously stick to their licence terms.

Many of the licences were issued in neighbouring Lam Dong Province, they said.

Nguyen Van Nghi, deputy chairman of the Tan Phu District People’s Committee, urged provincial authorities to join hands with their Lam Dong counterparts to stop the sand mining in stretches of the river between the two provinces.

The 15 mining licences issued by Lam Dong would surely worsen land erosion along the riverbanks in Tan Phu, he lamented.

A Dong Nai transport official said all dredging and mining projects licensed by both Dong Nai Province and the Ministry of Transport have been suspended.

These include work to dredge the Thai Thien stream between the Thi Vai River and Kim Nhat inland wharf (in Phuoc Thai Commune, Long Thanh District), the Ong Trung channel (in Bien Hoa City), the Buong and Ben Go rivers (Bien Hoa), and a waterway in the Dong Kho River (in Phuoc An Commune, Nhon Trach District).

The department, on orders from the People’s Committee, has urged all the miners to clear their machinery, equipment and workers from the work spots. 

VNS