Deputy director of the Viet Nam National Coal, Mineral Industries Group Le Minh Chuan spoke to Nong thon Ngay nay, about coal-stealing in Mao Khe Mine, . . .

Deputy director of the Viet Nam National Coal, Mineral Industries Group Le Minh Chuan spoke to Nong thon Ngay nay (Countryside Today) about coal-stealing in Mao Khe Mine, Quang Ninh Province from February 12-19.

While the media reported that robbers had taken thousands of tonnes of coal from Mao Khe Coal Mine in Quang Ninh Province’s Dong Trieu District, the local authorities and officials of Mao Khe Coal Company refused to comment on the incident. What do you think?

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Before Tet (lunar new year), the Mao Khe Coal Company discovered unusual activities around their mine. The most significant sign was that households around the mine had moved out from their houses seven days before Tet.

The company and the district authorities had met with each other four days after the move to devise a solution to protect the mine with the attendance of the police and local militia.

During the Tet holiday, my group’s senior officials kept in contact with Nguyen Viet Ngu, director of the Mao Khe Coal Company and were told that the mine was safe. But after Tet, my group were informed that thieves had illegally taken coal in the area over seven consecutive nights from 12 to 19 of February (during the Tet holiday).

We had worked with the company and the local authorities on March 4 to calculate the losses to the company and local community.

I can now confirm that the theft in the Mao Khe Zone that the media reported is true. The thieves used 27 excavators and 80 trucks with 2 to 10 tonne capacity to steal coal from 12 locations in the mine zone. We do not yet have an accurate figure for the amount of coal stolen.

It is a complicated process to choose a worthwhile mine to exploit. How did the thieves select the locations so easily?

In theory, only the miners know where the coal is because they take part in the searches for lucrative seams. In that case, some former workers who took part in that process may have leaked the information to the thieves. We are investigating whether the information was leaked from the company.

So, will the coal sector take any responsibility in this case? Will anybody actually be held to account for this situation?

First, we apologise for being careless, and passive in the face of such an incident. We are investigating why it was so easy for a theft on this kind of scale to take place. If we find any official or worker at the company was involved in the theft, no matter who they are, we will punish them.

What will you do in the future to protect the mine?

We have asked the company to review the work of its staff. Any one who failed in their work to protect the mine will be disciplined. However, Mao Khe is a thinly populated area; it is also difficult for the guards to protect the mine.

Most of the guards live in the mining areas with their relatives who could be attacked by the thieves. Some years ago, a guard was stabbed eight times with a knife while the house of another guard was attacked with a bomb when they dared to stand up to the thieves. Since these incidents many guards are reluctant to engage in direct confrontations with the thieves.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News