The owner of an iron ore mine in the highlands of northern Cao Bang province is struggling to remove debris left after a tailings dam was destroyed in a landslide more than a month ago.
The 8-kilometre-road through the Na Chua stream to the Cao Bang Minerals and Metallurgy Company's Na Lung mine was still inundated with sludge on Dec. 15.
Duyet Trung commune resident Be Thi Hong Van said the road - the only link with other communes - was covered in the mud spilled from trucks carrying the debris.
"We have been living with mud and dust," she complained.
"On dry days, the road is filled with dust that could make it unsafe.
"Now we are worried about possible accidents on the slippery road; some people have already fallen off their motorbikes."
And some households have been unable to start planting their winter-spring crop because their paddy fields are under mud.
Company deputy director Dam Trung Ky said 250 workers, three excavators and eight trucks are working from morning till 10pm everyday to remove the mud.
About 6,000 to 7,000 cubic metres of mud and water, or about 40 per cent of the tailings have been returned to the mine.
But his company is pressed to finish the work before the provincial People's Committee's deadline - the end of the month.
Cao Bang Minerals and Metallurgy Company has been fined 100 million VND (5,000 USD) and ordered to repair the damage./.
The 8-kilometre-road through the Na Chua stream to the Cao Bang Minerals and Metallurgy Company's Na Lung mine was still inundated with sludge on Dec. 15.
Duyet Trung commune resident Be Thi Hong Van said the road - the only link with other communes - was covered in the mud spilled from trucks carrying the debris.
"We have been living with mud and dust," she complained.
"On dry days, the road is filled with dust that could make it unsafe.
"Now we are worried about possible accidents on the slippery road; some people have already fallen off their motorbikes."
And some households have been unable to start planting their winter-spring crop because their paddy fields are under mud.
Company deputy director Dam Trung Ky said 250 workers, three excavators and eight trucks are working from morning till 10pm everyday to remove the mud.
About 6,000 to 7,000 cubic metres of mud and water, or about 40 per cent of the tailings have been returned to the mine.
But his company is pressed to finish the work before the provincial People's Committee's deadline - the end of the month.
Cao Bang Minerals and Metallurgy Company has been fined 100 million VND (5,000 USD) and ordered to repair the damage./.
