Illegal quarries have become more common in the suburban areas of Nha Trang City in Khanh Hoa Province.

Illegal mining in Hon Nghe 2 Village

One of the largest illegal quarries in Nha Trang is in Vinh Ngoc Commune's Hon Nghe 2 Village. 

Taken there by some local people in the midday of April 5, a DTiNews reporter saw a group of five people quarrying stone. 

They then used different kinds of tool to shape pieces of stone into rectangle. The rectangle stone after that will be sold as a kind of construction material.   

Stone mining at Hon Nghe 2 Village has been happening for several past years, but it has become more serious since early this year, said a local resident.

The situation is also seen at Phuoc Dong Commune where witnessed the death of four people due to land slide of a mountain last year. Coming there on April 4, DTiNews reporter found that many mountainous sections are facing landslides due to illegal quarrying.

Vinh Phuong Commune is in the same situation with many hilly areas that have been used for quarrying. People in the commune said that last year they faced terrible flooding and flash flood which they hardly saw previously and blamed it on the quarrying.

According to Chairman of Vinh Ngoc Commune People’s Committee Le Van My said that earlier local authorities fined some people for the illegal stone quarrying. However, the fine of just VND350,000 (USD16) is not strict enough to the violation.

My added that people are requested to pledge not to quarry stone by themselves without permission from local authorities. Anyone who wants to do this must seek approval.

He also noted that the city considers revoking land areas if the illegal quarrying continues.

dtinews