Dong Thap increases sand mine capacity to serve Can Tho expressway project

The delegation included Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Quy Kien, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Duy Lam and representatives of relevant units.

Localities are confused in applying special mechanisms.

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Ho Thanh Phuong, Director of Dong Thap Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the province has issued 14 mineral exploitation licenses, the total exploited reserves in the first 6 months of the year are about 972,000m3, the remaining reserves are about 25 million m3.

According to calculations, the province's sand demand in 2023 is nearly 20 million m3. The preparation for the Cao Lanh - An Huu and My An - Cao Lanh expressway projects alone is about 6.6 million m3, and the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway (part of the North - South expressway project in the 2021 - 2025 period) is about 7 million m3.

Recently, Dong Thap province has increased the capacity of mines 2A and 2B by 50% and introduced 2 new mines on Tien and Hau rivers with a total expected reserve of about 1.9 million m3 to supply the Can Tho - Ca Mau expressway. Thus, there is still a shortage of about 5.1 million m3.

*Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Quy Kien speaks at the meeting*

To meet this additional demand, the province is reviewing a number of mines under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha.

According to Mr. Ho Thanh Phuong, the locality is currently confused in applying the special mechanism, so it needs detailed guidance from the Central Government. He also recommended that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment review and give opinions on the 12 steps (processes and procedures) of mining under the special mechanism, which the Department bases on Resolution 43 of the National Assembly, Resolution 18 of the Government, the Law on Minerals and guidance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In addition, there is a local issue that is still worrying: for a sand mine that has been granted to an exploitation unit, the reserves are still available, now wanting to hand it over to a contractor for construction according to a special mechanism, how should it be implemented? If we continue to grant a license to the old unit to coordinate with the exploitation contractor to provide, is it appropriate or not?...

Applying special mechanisms to increase mining capacity

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Quy Kien requested that localities immediately implement Resolution 133 of the Government on applying special mechanisms to increase 50% of the capacity of exploiting mines, immediately supplying the North-South expressway project through the area, meeting the required progress.

For suspended and expired mines, the locality will review and classify the mines to assign them to project contractors or re-license the old unit to exploit the remaining reserves. The binding condition is that the products must be provided for key transport projects and the time to complete the procedures must be as short as possible.

*Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Duy Lam speaks at the meeting*

For new mines, localities carry out procedures to confirm the mining volume registration dossier according to the guidance of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The mining volume registration dossier submitted by the contractor only requires a commitment to protect the environment and carry out environmental improvement and restoration in mineral exploitation activities.

Deputy Minister Tran Quy Kien added: "We base on the Resolutions of the National Assembly and the Government to implement. The procedures currently guided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are very concise. I believe that by simply increasing the exploitation capacity of the sand mines in operation by 50%, we will meet most of the demand for sand materials for the highway."

Minimize time for contractors to exploit sand soon

Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Duy Lam acknowledged the support of Dong Thap province in supplying sand for the expressway project in recent times.

According to the Deputy Minister, currently, many sections of the North-South Expressway project in the East, Can Tho - Ca Mau section, have been organically excavated and covered with geotextiles, but there is no sand for the foundation, so the next stages of construction are interrupted. In the face of this situation, the Ministry of Transport has directed units to focus on the construction of the bridge section and organically excavate the site that will be handed over later.

According to the Deputy Minister of Transport, the National Assembly and the Government have issued specific mechanisms, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has also provided specific guidance in a very simple manner on procedures, creating extremely favorable conditions for localities to implement. However, this is the first time applying a specific mechanism, so localities are still confused, and the implementation of procedures has not met the progress required by the Government.

"The special mechanism has skipped many steps, contractors only need to register reserves, exploitation methods, time... to ensure environmental protection issues. These tasks are also clearly stated in the instructions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. However, currently, according to the procedures that Dong Thap province has drafted to carry out exploitation, it will take about 100 days, that is, about 3 more months to have sand", Deputy Minister Nguyen Duy Lam emphasized.

From there, the Deputy Minister of Transport asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to give opinions on the 12 steps of sand mining procedures proposed by Dong Thap province, shortening the maximum time for contractors to soon carry out sand mining.

In addition to opening new mines, the Deputy Minister also suggested that localities consider increasing the capacity of mines in operation and granting licenses to mines that have been suspended but still have reserves.

According to Mr. Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee, the locality always supports and tries its best to provide sand materials for the project. However, the Provincial People's Committee proposed that the Ministry of Transport agree that the contractor for exploiting the new sand mine must be introduced by the Ministry of Transport.

Previously, on May 31, the Government Office issued a document conveying the opinion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on the coordination of sand filling materials for expressway projects in the Mekong Delta region. Accordingly, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the People's Committees of An Giang, Dong Thap, and Vinh Long provinces to immediately prioritize the allocation of sand for the Can Tho - Hau Giang and Hau Giang - Ca Mau expressway projects (belonging to the North - South expressway project, Can Tho - Ca Mau section), with the volume of 2023 according to the direction of the Prime Minister at the 5th meeting of the State Steering Committee for important national and key projects of the transport sector.

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