Ninh Binh Province Inspectorate have announced the wrongdoings of a tourism firm as well as responsibilities of local authorities over the huge walkway that was built illegally in the UNESCO heritage site of Trang An.   

Illegal walkway in Trang An

The results of the 45-day inspection at Trang An was announced by Ninh Binh Province People's Committee on June 8.

Local authorities were blamed for lax management in land, forest and heritage site, and irresponsibility over social insurance, construction and tax management. 

They also failed to carry out inspections and detect the violations in time. 

The collaboration between agencies is left much to be desired.

The first responsibility belongs to the directors of local departments including Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Tourism, Department of Construction, Department of Planning and Investment. Director of Trang An Complex management board, local forest ranger units of Hoa Lu District and other agencies were named.

Chairmen of Truong Yen Commune People's Committee, Hoa Lu District People's Committee were blamed for their failures in administrative management. Many organisations who were allocated forest land were included in the list. 

Xuan Truong Construction Company was irresponsible in letting another company illegally damage the mountain and failed to report the case to the authorities.

Nguyen Van Son, director of Trang An Tourism Company, the investor in the illegal walkway, not only violated the Law on Cultural Heritage, he also violated regulations about tourism business. 

He damaged the protected forest and failed to comply with orders from authorities.

He was further found to have violated regulations about business operations, social insurance, unemployment insurance and occupational health and safety for workers.

Dtinews