Capital city takes on illegal sand exploitation
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Sand exploitation at Bac Port in Tay Ho District, Ha Noi.— VNA/VNS Photo Bui Tuong |
HA NOI — Illegal sand dredgers will have their transport vehicles seized by the capital's waterways police if they are caught committing illegal acts.
This is one of the measures that will be used by the city's waterways police during their one-month campaign to prevent and deal with illegal sand exploitation.
The campaign was expected to ensure the safety for the dike corridor and for the waterway traffic, said Khuat Duy Kieu, head of the Waterways Police Unit of the city's police.
The unit will give advice to the city's police on how to strictly deal with illegal land exploitation cases, which would put the bank of the Hong (Red) River at high risk for landslides during the wet season. Sand exploitation also threatened the lives and farmlands of more than 400 families, Kieu said.
Staff from the Waterways Police have been ordered to patrol during the night and early morning.
Educating the people living on the river's banks about the law is also an important part of the campaign.
According to statistics provided by the unit, there have been 111 reported cases of illegal sand exploitation in the city.
In early January, the municipal People's Committee had assigned the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to identify areas where sand exploitation must be banned.
After examining the operations of 10 sand exploitation companies, five had expired licences.
In 2009, authorities of the city fined and seized 14 ships, who illegally exploited sand in the river and the Day River. —VNS