Tang River in Tay Tra District, Quang Ngai Province used to be a beautiful site, now, gold mining has severely altered this once pristine river.
Tang River becomes muddy and dried out
After several hours of walking through windy and rocky roads, we finally reached Tre Hamlet, Tra Tho Commune, Tay Tra District, Quang Ngai Province. We were met by Ho Van De, who was washing clothes while some children were playing in the Y stream, which is located on the way to Tre Hamlet. De said, “The River has become very muddy, its surface is a yellowish color. We cannot take a bath nor wash clothes in the river so we have to go to this stream. It used to be, before people started gold mining, the river was very clear. We could bathe here. Nobody in my hamlet had to suffer from itching.”
The whole hamlet is suffering from an itching epidemic. Ho Van Thanh, an elderly man said while scratching ,“I never, ever, have experienced such an unpleasant itch like this. Only when people came here to look for gold and the river could no longer flow did we have these problems. It is muddy and yellow and has brought skin problems to the whole hamlet.”
Local people said that they started itching in early 2008 and suffered from severe diarrhoea in 2009.
In early 2007, many mineral deployment companies come here to do business inline with provincial policy.
In such a mountainous region, there is no medical centre. It takes a whole day to walk from the hamlet to collect medicine so most people here cure their itch with leaves they find in the forest.
Ho Minh Tri, Head of the Tre Hamlet, said that his hamlet had 120 families with nearly 460 people, who lived by working on 40 hectares of fields by the river. When people started mining gold on the river, all of that changed and their fields were taken away.
“We are compensated only VND500 ($0.02) per square meter of fields but we have not received a penny up until now. They said after they completed the evacuation of Nuoc Trong project, the State would return our fields to us in a new location,” added Tri.
Tri’s family used to collect more than one tonne of rice which was enough for his family for an entire year. Now, he cannot have even a grain since people started mining the river.
“Tang River’s water is polluted. We cannot grow rice and beans. We have to take water from a stream, which is far away from our hamlet, so when water is brought to our hamlet, there is very little which is just enough for living activities. All fields were taken for gold mining,” said Tri.
At present, there are only two companies who are permitted to mine for gold in Quang Ngai Province. However, there are many other companies and individuals taking advantage and doing it illegally.
Police of Tay Tra District have pursued violators many times but the situation doesn't seem to improve. District authorities are helpless in this circumstance and have requested support from higher level authorities.
Itch epidemic affects children
Dozens of excavators are “murdering” Tang River