A mountain near the beach in Ha Phong Ward of Ha Long City belongs to the Ha Long Bay natural heritage site, but has been destroyed for the construction of a road leading to the bay.
Minh Anh JSC has been using a 30-hectare plot of land near the resettlement area of the fishing village of Ha Phong as a dumping ground for soil, stone and coal dust.
Road construction complete, soil and stone poured into the bay
Since 2013, the company has been illegally chopping down trees and destroying the mountain to construct a one-kilometre road to the bay.
The Ha Long Bay management board has confirmed that the road project is inside the buffer zone. Dao Van Thanh, director of Minh Anh JSC, admitted that they do not yet have approval from local authorities.
“We are just enlarging the old small path to facilitate transportation, not for the transport of coal as it is rumoured,” Thanh said.
Vu Duc Hoan, vice chairman of Hoa Phong ward People’s Committee, said, “We've been aware of the road construction since they started. We’ve reported it, requested suspension to the construction and fined them over VND1 million.”
According to Hoan, they have also reported the case to the Ha Long city government, but they have yet to take any action to stop the construction. The company continued and the road has been completed.
Pham Hong Ha, chairman of Ha Long City People’s Committee, refused to comment except for saying that they are not responsible for the area.
Pham Thuy Duong, head of the Ha Long Bay’s management board, said she was shocked when she heard of the road, and promised to assign staff to inspect the site.
As the land belongs to the heritage site, the investor is required conduct an environmental assessment report and send it to the board before construction.
She added that she would propose that the provincial government take measures to deal with the situation if the construction was in fact illegal.
