Hundreds of people in Tinh An Commune in central Quang Ngai City have gathered near the Tra Khuc River to stop trucks from removing sand from the river, the online Da Tri reported.

The two hamlets, with more  than 400 households and some 2,000 people, are located on the Tra Khuc River.

The local people has cultivated on mudflats for a number of years.

Yet, in recent days many businesses have removed very large amounts of  sand in the upstream river. The loss of sand caused a high risk of erosion, which would engulf the people of the two hamlets.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, a local resident, said, “They (the businesses) had exploited the sand without any announcement, and without approval of the locals.”

“Our grandparents’ graves and cultivated land were here. The sand exploitation will bring risks of erosion. When floods come, it will wash away everything and threaten our lives,” Tuan said.

Meanwhile, another local resident Le Thi Su said that her family lived on crops grown on the mudflats. But now, the land was washed away due to massive sand exploitation.

“Before the sand exploitation, some people came to my house, asking to measure our land for compensation. But my family turned down their proposal.”

“Then they destroyed my 4,700sq.m. of land. Now we have nothing to live on”, said Su.

Also, sand exploitation has created “death holes” alongside the river, which recently caused children to drown. 

VNS