ĐĂK NÔNG – A farmer has written to the People’s Committee in Đăk R’lâp complaining his land has collapsed close to an aluminum factory.

Lê Mai Toàn, Vice Chairman of Đăk R’lâp District People’s Committee, confirmed the committee received a letter from a local man, Trần Cơ, complaining his family’s agricultural land collapsed near Nhân Cơ Alumina Factory.

Local authorities raised the issue with Đăk Nông Aluminum Company, which owns the factory, and reported it to the Đăk Nông Province People’s Committee.

Trần Cơ’s family has nearly three hectares of agricultural land in Village One of Nhân Đạo Commune, Đăk R’Lâp District, in the Central Highlands province of Đăk Nông.

A 5,000sq.m area of the land, next to the red mud lake of Nhân Cơ Alumina Factory, collapsed to a depth of 2m in some places.

The online newspaper zing.vn reported cracks in the earth, first discovered a month earlier at 30-40cm deep, had grown significantly.

Ngô Tố Ninh, deputy director of Đăk Nông Aluminum Company, said on Tuesday the land had collapsed due in part to heavy rainfall since last year despite his company’s preventive measures.

He said the company’s plan to acquire the surrounding land to build a protective belt was approved by the Đăk Nông Province People’s Committee, Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited.

According to Ninh, it will take six to 12 months after the end of the rainy season to collect land for use in the repairs.

"This collapse has no effect on the safety of the red-mud lake; it only affects peripheral flood drainage ditches,” Ninh said. “The reservoirs are now safe.”

Cơ said he and other locals discovered the first signs of collapse near the factory in August 2017. They submitted a petition to the communal authorities asking the People’s Committee intervene.

He continued sending letters to the Đăk R’Lâp District authorities, but he said two weeks ago there had been no change and no feedback from relevant offices.

Nguyễn Tạo, chairman of Nhân Đạo Commune People’s Committee, said the committee received complaint letters in 2017 from some households in Village One affected by the damage.

Following the letters, the commune authorities sent inspectors to check the area, and reported the situation to the People’s Committee.

“If possible, my family expects the local authorities to consider compensating us for lost crops so that we have the money to move our farm,” Cơ said. — VNS