Loss of fertile land blamed on dredging

Hectares of fertile agriculture land are being lost into the Phu Yen Province's Ba River due to erosion caused by illegal dredging of sand.

Phu Yen Province's Environment and Natural Resources Department reported that more than 300,000cu m of sand had been illegally extracted from the Ba River for use on construction sites.

Phu Hoa District Environment and Natural Resources Department chief Pham Thi Kieu Diem said thousands of cubic metres of sand were piled up at each of the district's Dong Binh, An Ninh and Vinh Phu villages, all extracted without permission.

Hoa An Commune Land Management Unit official Nguyen Thanh Hung said the sand was dredged from the river at night and transported to the villages to wait for buyers. No one would say who was responsible.

Phu Hoa District resident Huynh Tan Thu said 1,000sq m of his family's agricultural land was among hectares that had slid into the river because of the illegal sand extraction.

Hung said construction demand had caused the price of sand to double to VND300,000 (US$15.7) per cubic metre resulting in a sand rush.

Authorities said they were already investigating the situation and had asked local committees to clamp down on illegal dredging.

However, Hoa An Commune People's Committee chairman Nguyen Tuan said it was "impossible" to stop illegal sand extraction. He said authorities had tried to carry out regular inspections and threatened severe punishment on illegal sand transporters but there were not enough officials to carry out the threats.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Department deputy chief inspector Nguyen Thi Ha said the province would mobilise their inspectors to make regular checks and prevent illegal sand extraction.

More drastic measures such as seizing trucks and dredges would be applied, she said.