Khanh Son Commune authorities have decided to charge people to take water which many believe can cure diseases.
Kong Kep Mountain was being surrounded with a state of chaos that developed due to the water thought to hold special powers.
People have flocked to Khanh Son Commune to take water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge
A small stream which starts from Sac Mountain and runs through Kong Kep Mountain Gorge located in Khanh Son Commune, Nam Dan District, Nghe An Province is where the water exists. People from Khanh Son Commune have used water from this mountain for many years.
It has been rumoured that water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge could cure many diseases. This caused people from neighbouring provinces to start coming to Khanh Son Commune to take water from this mountain gorge.
Nguyen Trong Tranh, Vice Chairman of People’s Committee of Khanh Son Commune assured that, “Water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge cannot cure diseases. It’s obviously just a rumour. We recommend that people boil water taken from the mountain gorge before using it to protect their health.”
Nevertheless, what is unusual is that the People’s Committee of Khanh Son Commune decided to organise a tender to choose an individual to be responsible for managing and collecting fees from all people taking water from the mountain gorge.
Nguyen Trong Lich won the tender and signed a contract with the People’s Committee of Khanh Son Commune. He is allowed to charge people for taking water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge from June 1 to December 31, 2010 at VND1,000 ($0.05) per tank. Lich has to pay the commune’s authority VND120 million ($6,240) in total for these 7 months.
However, Lich’s charge policy is different from what he is supposed to do. He is charging people from Khanh Son Commune VND1,000 per tank. Meanwhile, he charges people from other communes VND2,000 ($0.10) per tank and the price is VND3,000 ($0.15) per tank if they fill more than 3 tanks.
Tranh explained the decision to charge for water, “The commune authorities decided to sell water from the mountain gorge in a bid to resolve the chaos which was taking place. Additionally, this decision also helps the commune get a large amount of income.”
This decision, in actuality, has made people believe even more in the rumour that water from the mountain gorge could cure diseases. Now there are even more people coming to Khanh Son Commune to buy water..
On June 18, 2010 Nghe An Province ’s Food Safety and Hygiene Department took water samples from the mountain gorge in order to test it. The test results showed that water quality from it did not meet the standard of pure water.
On July 14, 2010 the Healthcare Centre of Nam Dan District requested the People’s Committee and Medical Station of Khanh Son Commune to strengthen their propaganda and management on using water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge.
Water from Kong Kep Mountain Gorge is kept in huge tanks to sell
