3 titanium companies ordered to stop operations
Illegal sand mining taking place near the Phù Ngọc Bridge lying between Nhơn Khánh and Nhơn Phúc districts of An Nhơn Township, Bình Định Province. — Photo thanhnien.vn
BÌNH ĐỊNH — The central province’s environmental department has ordered three titanium exploitation companies to suspend operations, which have continued for the last three years despite expired licences.
The three companies - Mỹ Tài Co Ltd, Tấn Phát Co Ltd and Ban Mai Production Co妹妹erce Co Ltd - were only granted permission by the province’s People’s Co妹妹ittee to carry out mining activities until the end of 二0 一 三, according to Huỳnh Quang Vinh, deputy head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE).
Once this period was over, the local authorities asked the three companies to complete environment restoration at the exploited area by the end of August 二0 一 五. However, the three companies defied the order and continued to hire workers and deploy heavy machines to extract titanium at the site in Phù Mỹ District, prompting anger of the locals.
Bình Định People’s Co妹妹ittee has told Phù Mỹ District to coordinate with the provincial DoNRE to work on administrative fines applicable for the offences according to existing law and seize all machines and other assets for further investigation.
In a related development, locals of Vạn Thái Village in Mỹ Tài Co妹妹une of Phù Mỹ District have submitted a denunciation letter against Hoàng Khiêm Co Ltd, saying the company has illegally exploited sand in the riverbed of the La Tinh River from 二0 一 六 to now, without licences. The overexploitation of sand has led to heavy erosion on the riverbank, adversely affecting lives and production.
Phù Mỹ authorities said the province is still processing Hoàng Khiêm company’s documents asking permission to carry out mineral prospecting, specifically sand used in construction, on a 二. 四ha area. However, the company has gone on with exploitation operations without obtaining any licence.
On April 一 五, chairman of Bình Định Province’s People’s Co妹妹ittee Hồ Quốc Dũng asked the provincial police, especially environment police forces, to conduct inspection of mineral exploitation sites and handle violations. Initially, the focus would be on "hot spots"大众like in Phù Mỹ and Phù Cát districts, he said. — VNS