Illegal sand mining continues
Residents are angry and worried that illegal sand mining along the Bến Hải River in Quảng Trị Province continues unabated despite local authorities’ efforts to stop the practice. Dozens of households on the banks of the river in Gio Linh District have not only lost trees to land erosion triggered by the sand mining, their land itself is under threat. A report in the Nông thôn ngày nay (Countryside Today) newspaper has said several illegal sand mining spots could be seen along the river, Ngô Xụy, a resident of Vĩnh Tường commune, told the newspaper on January 10 that the illegal sand mining caused land erosion around 1ha of land that belongs to his family, and they have lost many five-year-old cajeput trees to the river. “Boat owners are trying to come deep into my land to exploit sand, causing a lot of land erosion,” he said. Chairman of the Vĩnh Tường People’s Committee, Hồ Văn Sâm, confirmed that illegal sand mining has led to serious land erosion.
