Illegal sand exploitation devastates farmland

A crane loads sand illegally dredged from Dau Tieng Lake in Dong Nai Province on to a truck Virtually overnight, some paddy fields on the Dong Nai River have collapsed recently.

It is not some cataclysmic event like an earthquake that has caused it, but the illegal activity of sand dredging in Dong Nai Province that continues unabated five years after a government ban. The Dong Nai River originates in the Central Highlands and flows for more than 437 kilometers through the provinces of Lam Dong, Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Tien Giang. But it is the sand exploitation in Dong Nai Province, one of the fastest areas in the country to industrialize, that has seriously eroded many areas on its banks, including public, farming and residential land. Provincial police have busted four cases since early this year and seized 27 dredging vessels, but the illegal exploitation is apparently beyond the control of local authorities. A portion of the Dong Nai River bank in Binh Loi Commune has eroded due to the illegal activity of sand dredging that has continued unabated for five years in Dong Nai Province Thanh Nien reporters last week found many sections of the river bank eroded to dangerous levels. “A bamboo hedge collapsed into the river some days ago,” said Dao Thi Bong of Binh Loi Commune in Vinh Cuu District. “I don’t know when the erosion will stop. “There used to be a path on the river bank some 15 meters from my land. But it has disappeared to erosion and locals now have to walk through my garden.” Her neighbor, Nguyen Ngoc Dinh, said he has lost some hundred square meters of land so far to erosion. “The situation has become slightly better recently after the district police began patrolling more regularly,” he said. “Last week, I reported illegal dredging to the police, but they could only manage to fire some warning shots in the air to scare them away.” Nguyen Van Son, chief of police in Binh Loi Commune, admitted that illegal sand dredging was happening, but done more secretly. “Waterway traffic police last week detected two illegal dredgers but they sank their boats and fled to avoid being caught,” he said. Nguyen Van Tot from the province’s Nhon Trach District said dozens of dredgers often worked at night to evade detection and capture. The illegal dredging is also common on the Dau Tieng Lake, which is fed by the Dong Nai River, threatening local irrigation works. A dredger said his team could dredge 20 cubic meters of sand from the lake everyday for a remuneration of VND10,000 (US$0.56) per cubic meter. The owner of a nearby café said the pirate dredgers run construction material sales depots near the site to cover up their exploitation because it is legal to store sand in such places. A local resident said up to 100 trucks carrying sand from the site leave between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. everyday. Nguyen Trong Thanh, director of the Dau Tieng Irrigation Work Management, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had banned sand exploitation from the lake in 2005, but the activity still continued. Vo Van Chanh, deputy director of Dong Nai Department of Natural Resources and Environment, also said the illegal sand dredging has been “complicated” and difficult to control. All concerned authorities have been mobilized to deal with the issue but they have not been able to stop illegal dredging yet, he said. He said the district’s people committees have been asked to intensify patrols on the river as a preventive measure. Clay exploitation The loss of farmland to illegal dredging is not confined to Dong Nai, unfortunately. The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has seen its farmland shrink after people began digging up their fields to exploit it for clay to make bricks. Erosion caused by illegal sand dredging is also threatening irrigation works in the province. The Dak Lak Department of Natural Resources and Environment has announced that 84.5 percent of entities and individuals that are exploiting minerals don’t have permits. Sand and clay are major resources being illegally exploited, besides stone, peat, lead, zinc and granite. The department says only two companies have been licensed to dredge sand, but at least eight other entities and 58 individuals are illegally exploiting around 500,000 cubic meters a year. Only three companies are licensed to exploit clay, but nine others and 178 individuals engage in the activity, averaging 320,000 cubic meters a year. Duong Dinh Hoanh, head of the department’s mineral management office, said illegal sand dredging was common in the Krong Ana and Krong No rivers. He said this had caused erosion of river banks and changed the river’s currents, while clay exploitation on paddy fields has reduced farmland in the province. Tran Dinh Chien, chairman of Ea Bong Commune’s People’s Committee in Krong Ana District, said there were 40 brick producers in the commune and 80 percent of rice paddies had clay. Residents have exploited clay to sell to brick producers, saying they were renovating their farms, he said. Hoanh said this activity has damaged the fields because they would become deeper and unfit for rice cultivation. In January, the Dak Lak People’s Committee instructed district authorities to strictly manage mineral exploitation and take stiff measures against violations. However, district authorities have failed to report to the committee on action taken thus far. The deadline for submitting the report was February 28. Reported by Thanh Nien staff