Tay Ninh prevents sand dredgers from causing forest landslides

According to the Management Board of Dau Tieng Protection Forest, at the end of November 2023, the Suoi Ba Chiem Forest Management, Protection and Development Team under the Management Board discovered an unregistered sand dredger (unknown enterprise) in the area adjacent to Sub-zone 58, causing landslides. At this time, the water level of Dau Tieng Lake is rising, so determining the extent of landslides such as depth, and area... is very difficult.

On March 1, 2024, the Management Board organized a field inspection and measurement in areas 8, 9, and 10, Sub-zone 58. As a result, the entire landslide area is outside the land boundary managed by the Management Board, the landslide closest to the protective forest boundary is 10m, and the furthest landslide is 55m.

Mr. Pham Chi Trung - Head of the Management Board of Dau Tieng Protection Forest said that the Management Board has just sent a report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province. Accordingly, the incident of sand dredgers in areas 8, 9, 10, and Sub-zone 58 causing landslides are under patrol and have been discovered by the forest protection force since the end of November 2023.

However, because this is the end of the year, the Suoi Ba Chiem Forest Management, Protection and Development Team focuses on carrying out inspection and acceptance of silvicultural items, preparing for fire prevention and fighting in the dry season, therefore, patrolling and inspection of this area is not regular; the Management Board is not able to promptly capture and report information.

According to Mr Nguyen Dinh Xuan - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, in the past there was an overlap in determining the boundary between semi-submerged land belonging to Dau Tieng Lake and protective forest land; now, there is a relatively clear demarcation on the map. The current landslide area is located on semi-submerged land that is not yet under the management of the Dau Tieng Protection Forest Management Board. However, there has been an impact on some trees in the vegetation growing in this area, which in the long term may affect the forest.

“Protective forests are terrestrial forests and sand pumping ships operate underwater and come close to the shore. The problem here is that the ship has no registration number and the sand pump is outside the licensed scope. The authorities have determined that the above activity is illegal, causing landslides and affecting some trees growing naturally on the vegetation as mentioned. Regarding functional delineation, the Department of MARD does not manage sand mining vessels. But in reality, the sand dredger has come close to shore, so in the near future, the Department will coordinate with local authorities to manage the assigned area well", Mr Nguyen Dinh Xuan emphasized.

As the owner of the lake, Mr. Tran Quang Hung - Deputy General Director of Southern Irrigation Exploitation Company Limited said that the Company has established a working group to proactively inspect, supervise and coordinate with competent authorities to handle illegal sand mining vessels, ensure order and safety of important irrigation works of special level related to national security.

In the coming time, it is recommended that local authorities of provinces bordering the above area continue to pay close attention, strengthen the direction and cooperate according to the signed coordination regulations. The goal is to restore order in mineral exploitation in the Saigon River section through the relevant provinces.