Titanium mining exhausts locals, land in central Vietnam Schoolboy Pham Thanh Binh is planting white potato trees on his dry land due to the exhaustion of water sources in Binh Dinh Province. Tuoi Tre A cottonwood forest was chopped down for the construction of the Binh Dinh Titanium Plant. Tuoi Tre Titanium exploitation has seriously exhausted the environment and poorly affected, or even claimed, the lives of locals in the central province of Binh Dinh in the past five or six years. Hundreds of hectares of cottonwood forests along the coast have been uprooted, and underground water sources have been exhausted. Lung illnesses have taken the lives of many locals in the affected areas, the consequences of titanium exploitation. Bad consequences Binh Dinh is one of four provinces in Vietnam that have the highest titanium reserves, with 2.5 million tons. Most titanium mines are located in coastal communes of the two districts Phu My and Phu Cat, and in a part of the Nhon Hoi economic zone, situated in the provincial capital Quy Nho City. So far, over 30 enterprises have been granted licenses for titanium exploitation, with a registered capacity of up to 650 tons of titanium ore a year. Despite the damage to the environment and living conditions, locals admitted they are helpless and disappointed. “They [state officials] were not here to see the destruction. They reside in the downtown area,” said Mr. Pham Van Dung, 65, in Hoa Hoi Nam village of My Thanh Commune in Phu My. “Investors showed us their licenses to exploit titanium here. With the licenses in their hands, they zone our forests for exploitation. After just one week, dozens of hectares of forests disappeared. We know who to blame,” Dung complained. During the last five years, the wealthy and peaceful My Thanh Commune has been transformed into a desolate locality. Over ten locals have died in the last three years, with six others waiting for death, all of lung diseases. Hundreds of hectares of coastal land in Phu My have been at risk of becoming desert. ‘The culprit’ is machines that pump underground water and sand up for titanium exploitation. The machines have worked at full capacity during the past five or six years. Village roads have bent down to carry heavy trucks transporting ore day and night for years. Dust flows in the air over rural roads, increasing the risk of driving. “Currently, the enterprises work moderately because Chinese firms lowered the price of titanium ore. Before, no local dared to go out on the roads at night because of the trucks,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Mao, a local in My Thanh Commune. Titanium exploitation not only causes air and land pollution but it also depletes underground water sources. Hundreds of wells have dried up. When dug deeper, yellow muddy water is found at the bottom of the wells. “For thousands of generations, these villages have never been plunged into a situation like this. Locals have to stay up until midnight to get barely enough water for one day,” said Pham Van Dung in My Thanh. “We have no water left for cultivation.” Before, My Thanh was famous for its onions and white potatoes. But now, before Tet (Vietnam’s Lunar New Year in late January), many families had no rice because their source of income, mainly from farming and fishing near the shore, was badly affected by mineral exploitation. Future robbed The exploitation has not only caused pollution and diseases, but also the spread of poverty to the rich mineral regions where people enjoyed a well-off life before the ‘titanium storm’. “I have a daughter and three sons. I married my daughter to a man who lives far from this region to ensure she is not miserable,” said Mao. “All of my three sons had to drop out of school because we were too poor. How can I pay their tuition fees if I don’t have enough food every day?” “I am a normal person. I’ve been reduced to poverty because of the loss of land and forests. My complaints aren’t heard by those in charge,” he said with tears in his eyes. Many other local families have had to take their children out of school for the same reason in the past five or six years. Those affected feel helpless when complaining to authorities, but deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh Province Ho Quoc Dung assured that his agency will not extend licenses for titanium exploitation. “Locals have complained about this so much. We have instructed titanium enterprises to restore forests and land before leaving the sites. They must fully recover the coastal forests to calm the people,” confirmed Dung. “I hope the environment will recover in three years to return farming land to locals,” said Tran Thai Nga, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Binh Dinh. Locals are praying the hope will come true in three years. Tuoi Tre