Hundreds of people were upset when they protested against the company dredging and clearing the Cua Dai channel to export saline sand to foreign countries, causing serious coastal erosion.

Not only asking businesses not to continue dredging and selling sand, the people of Nghia An commune also asked for compensation for land landslides and the loss of shrimp ponds.

In the past two days, high tides have submerged and broken the embankments of at least 5 vannamei shrimp ponds of people in Pho Truong village, causing nearly 1.5 billion VND in damage.

Plastic pipes like this, which were originally in the middle of shrimp ponds of households in Nghia An commune, are now sunk deep into the seabed due to high tide erosion.

The storm surge dug deep into the mainland, causing severe coastal erosion.

Mr. Nguyen Hiep (80 years old) in Nghia An commune is worried about high tide intrusion causing coastal erosion.

Faced with people’s frustration, the company’s dredging and sand-sucking barges have temporarily stopped operating.

At a dialogue between the authorities of Quang Ngai province and hundreds of households in Nghia An commune, many people proposed that the province have urgent solutions to prevent continued landslides near the Cua Dai area to protect lives.

Mr. Do Ngoc Tay, Chairman of Nghia An Commune People’s Committee, said that the project to dredge and clear Cua Dai channel to recover saline sand has a total volume of up to 20 million m3, but the enterprise has only dredged more than 1 million m3, which has caused landslides.

Vice Chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee Pham Truong Tho confirmed that during the project implementation, landslides occurred in Pho Truong village, Nghia An commune, causing anxiety and insecurity among people.

Therefore, the province decided to temporarily stop collecting sand for export in Cua Dai to assess the environmental impact, overcome landslides in Nghia An, and stabilize people’s lives.