The government is inspecting sand exporters in the Mekong Delta after local media reports said booming exports of the material to Singapore were altering water flows and damaging the environment.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment launched its investigations Monday, aiming to root out any illegal sand dredgers and exporters.

The city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said it had halted the issuance of new licenses for sand dredging and the extension of issued licenses.

Pham Ngoc Son, a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said apart from Can Tho, inspectors from his ministry and the Ministry of Construction would soon investigate other Delta localities and submit their findings to PM Nguyen Tan Dung by this Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the two ministries to inspect Delta sand exports late last month after local media said booming exports to Singapore were irreparably damaging the region’s landscape.

The volume of sand shipped from Can Tho to foreign countries in the first eight months of 2009 was nearly 7 million tons, compared to only 1.4 million tons in the whole 2008, said Nguyen Huu Co, head of the municipal Customs Agency in Can Tho.

On October 2, 2008, the government announced a temporary ban on the exports of sand. However, exports under contracts signed before November 30, 2008 were still allowed.

Thus, from October 2 to November 30 last year, many companies signed contracts to ship a large volume of sand abroad, while others have since forged their contract dates to escape the ban, said Co.

Illegalities

The Ministry of Security has also launched an inspection of sand exploited and exported from the Delta.

Initial results showed that several enterprises in Can Tho and the provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap had made forged documents to illegally export sand, Tuoi Tre newspaper said, citing an anonymous police source.

Inspectors said they had found irregularities in 1,000 customs declarations from seven enterprises exporting sand that had been approved by the Can Tho City’s Customs Department, including the use of modified photocopies of contracts or those without the signatures of exporters.

Other irregularities included delivery dates preceding contract dates or delivery dates following contract expiration dates.

Source: Tuoi Tre