Dredge owners and their workers are gouging gold from the Boi River in Hoa Binh Province, about 75 kilometres northwest of Ha Noi, while supposedly mining sand and gravel for construction. The mercury and other chemicals used to separate the precious metal pollute not only the river but drinking water for nearby villages.
The dredging also threatens to divert the river. But local officials contradict each other about the prevalence of the illegal mining.
Mi Hoa commune People’s Committee chairman Ha Cong Thich says although about 800 households once drank and cooked with the polluted water, this has now stopped.
There are no more boats near the commune although there were seven boats here last year, he says.
Yet he told a Viet Nam News reporter by phone: "It’s impossible to identify boats exploiting gold in the shadow of night."
"It’s the district’s responsibility," he added.
Hoa Binh Natural Resources and Environment Department director Bui Quang Thanh insists many people still use rafts to dredge for gold.
Surreptitious
"They often do it at night or during week-end to escape the eyes of local officials," he says.
The director says the Kim Boi District People’s Committee issued instructions for communes and relevant offices to order the removal of vessels working the river in October.
Those whose owners were denied a licence to mine for gold have all left, he says.
Yet the dredging persists.
The director says only three staff are available to supervise the workings on the river and this is not enough.
An anonymous worker says monthly pay ranges between VND2 million and VND10 million depending on their qualification and seniority.
People of the Mî Hoa and Sao Bay communes complain that boat owners from across Viet Nam have gathered on the river to gouge for gold while supposedly mining sand and gravel.
Those without the money for large vessels have built their own rafts.
Thousands of buckets
The dredges scoop thousands of buckets of sand from the river each day; the total for the rafts is less than ten.
Kim Boi District Natural Resources and Environment Office deputy director Truong Minh Trung concedes: "It’s our responsibility to prevent people from exploiting gold in the river.
"But how can we carry out the task with only few people?" he asks.
"I have told investigators they should use the discolouring of the water to first identify the boats dredging and advise the communal officials later."
Embankment
Figures from the Kim Boi District Natural Resources and Environment offices in Nuong Dam, Mi Hoa and Sao Bay communes show 13 boats have permission to exploit sand and gravel from the river.
Hoa Binh Natural Resources and Environment Department director Bui Quang Thanh says Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry is preparing to build an embankment along the Boi River’s banks to stop the gold gouging but no date has been set to begin work.