Laws of Vietnam

For multiple reasons, the protection of this natural resource over many years now has in practice shown a tendency to laxity, production of coal is low, the coefficient of preparation of the resource has decreased due to incomplete stripping, the inadequacy of preparation tunnels; the obsoleteness of the vehicles, machinery and equipment, the backwardness of technique and lack of spare parts. Illicit exploitation and trading of coal has taken place in many places, most seriously in the mining areas in Quang Ninh province.

In face of this situation, the Prime Minister already issued Decision No.381-TTg on July 27, 1994, and Directive No.382-TTg on July 28, 1994 aimed at rearranging the organization and restoring order in the exploitation and trading of coal. After one year of implementation, the production and trading of coal in many localities, especially in the Quang Ninh coal mining area, have recorded visible progress. Compared to the corresponding period last year and many previous years, the volume of coal exploited, consumed inside the country and exported, the volume of stripping of rock and earth and the volume of digging of preparation tunnels as well as the per capital income have all increased. In addition, the production processes are gradually falling into line. Progress has also been observed in the discipline for coal exploitation and business.

The coal companies and the administration at various levels in the localities in general and in Quang Ninh province in particular have made many efforts in the renewal of management, in strengthening the relations between the various branches and the localities, thus enabling the coal industry to achieve stability step by step and to operate more systematically than in the previous years.

However, in the process of implementing the undertakings mapped out by the Prime Minister, a number of problems remain in the improvement of the organization of the Corporation and in the restoration of order in the exploitation and trading of coal. The progress recorded so far remains unstable, and fundamental, thoroughgoing and synchronous solutions are still to be found.

To ensure the correct implementation of the spirit of the above Decision and Directive of the Prime Minister, at a meeting on July 2, 1995 in Ha Long City, after listening to the speeches of the leaders of the concerned ministries and branches, of the President of the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province, and the General Director and a number of Directors of member units of the Vietnam Coal Corporation, the Prime Minister gave the following instructions:

1. With a view to meeting the demand in energy for the industrialization and modernization of the country, the coal service should, together with the oil and gas industry and the electricity service, review its work and adopt timely active and synchronous plans and measures to strive for an output of 10 million tons and more of coal by the year 2000 and higher outputs in the following years.

2. In its orientation for production development, beside the main task of developing the production and trading of coal and coal products, it must develop the industries using local raw materials and workforce, such as the production of cement, building materials and services for the coal industry. Care should be taken to avoid the tendency to go after mere profits, and more efforts should be made to broaden businesses dealing in products not related to the coal industry.

3. In addition to its potential in developing the coal mining industry in general, Quang Ninh province is also endowed with many advantages in the development of the tourist and service industry... That is why, in the drafting of plans and during the whole technological process of directing the production of coal, great attention must be paid to synchronous development and avoiding consequences difficult to overcome, relating to the planning of production, urban construction, environmental protection...

4. One of the characteristics of the Quang Ninh coal mining area is that it is a place with a large concentration of workers of many generations. That is why, both the Coal Corporation and the provincial authorities have the responsibility, through active measures and concrete deeds, to preserve and develop the local occupations and trades, attract more and more children of the coal workers and employees into the coal industry, and adopt appropriate measures and forms to improve the living conditions and social welfare of workers in the coal mining area.

5. The implementation of Decision No.381-TTg of July 27, 1994, and Directive No.382-TTg of July 28, 1994 of the Prime Minister on restoring order in the exploitation and trading of coal will not only help to protect this natural resource but will also exert a great impact on the protection of the environment and the defense of discipline and law. We need not only to adopt firm measures of administrative handling, but also adopt very synchronous solutions combining education and persuasion to make the people abide by law with concrete economic measures. Only by so doing can we settle in a radical and steady way the question of order and safety in the coal mining area.

The Coal Corporation and all State enterprises engaged in coal exploitation and business must closely coordinate with the provincial authorities to urgently draw up the plan and clearly delineate the scope and boundary for the management, on the principle of ensuring that each mine must have an owner who is responsible for the management of the whole area under his/her charge.

The Vietnam Coal Corporation shall have to closely coordinate with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province and the People's Committees of the related provinces. They should discuss carefully and put forth appropriate measures and forms, in order to rearrange the workforce and equipment engaged in the illegal exploitation and trading of coal, along the following orientations:

- For the workforce having the suitable skill and labor safety equipment, they should be organized with a view to retrieving and making the best use of the coal scattered on the coal yards, ravines, crevices, rivers and streams, to increase coal output at a number of small seams, but they had to commit themselves to abide by the regulations and rules of the coal service, and arrangements should be made to buy their coal.

- For the workforce without the proper skill, they should be guided and created conditions to change to other occupations in order not to stay unemployed. There must be policies to lend them credits, and to help them in job training to learn appropriate jobs and to acquire the necessary initial material bases. Means like trucks and bulldozers of these persons should be rearranged and hired under contracts with the Coal Service and other services, or bought back if necessary.

The local administration at various levels should strengthen their State management, and coordinate with the Coal Corporation to settle in a thorough and basic way the illegal exploitation and consumption of coal. An end must be put to the coal "sub-contracting" and the use of "coal rackets" in the small-scale exploitation and collection of coal, and all the deliberate acts of violating law and fomenting disorder must be resolutely handled.

All the State enterprises using coal must sign buying and selling (short-term or long-term) contracts with the Corporation or coal companies of the State. The Directors of any enterprises which are caught with illegal purchases, sales or transportation of coal, shall be severely dealt with administratively and juridically.

The Ministry of Heavy Industry takes responsibility in State management for the coal resource in the whole country. The Vietnam Coal Corporation and the coal companies and local coal enterprises shall take responsibility for direct management of the mining areas assigned to them.

The People's Committees at various levels have the responsibility to protect the mining areas not yet open to exploitation, supervise the observance of the Ordinance on Mineral Resources; prevent, stop and strictly handle the acts of violation concerning the protection of mineral resources and the environment. They must make a firm account of the number of illegal coal exploiters and traders coming from other localities in order to compel them to return to their places of origin.

The serious implementation of the Decisions and Directives of the Prime Minister on stepping up production and restoring order in the coal industry is a common demand for all the localities having coal mines, but it is an imperative demand for the localities with great coal outputs, such as Quang Ninh, Bac Thai, Lang Son, Nghe An, etc.

6. Concerning some concrete issues suggested by the Vietnam Coal Corporation:

a/ The implementation of the membership statute of the Corporation with regard to the Northeast Company and the Quang Ninh Coal Company is assigned to the Head of the Central Steering Committee for Renewal of Enterprises. He shall preside over and discuss carefully with the concerned ministries, branches and localities so as to arrive at clear-cut regulations and full compliance with the Amended Statute of the Corporation to serve as a basis for the implementation by the member enterprises.

b/ The reorganization of the Mining Engineering Company is assigned to the Government Engineering Commission which shall coordinate with the Ministry of Energy and the Vietnam Corporation in studying and clearly analyzing the efficiency and capacity of operation of the units in this company, and submit the plan to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

c/ With regard to the pit props, for the moment the Vietnam Coal Corporation shall have to base itself on demand to determine the raw material areas, and work out very concrete plans to sign contracts with the enterprises supplying timber material for pit props, to ensure the supply of the necessary amount of quality props at the required time. The transfer of the Union of Pit-Prop Timber Enterprises to the Corporation must be weighed carefully. The Vietnam Coal Corporation shall discuss and reach agreement with the Ministry of Forestry on this question and report to the Prime Minister.

d/ For the moment, the Main Office of the Vietnam Coal Corporation should not be transferred to Hanoi, but should remain in Ha Long town in order to carry out concentrated guidance for the Quang Ninh coal mining area. But to facilitate transactions and marketing, the Vietnam Coal Corporation shall install a Transaction Office in Hanoi.

e/ The implementation of the function of Executive Director should be studied carefully, because it is related to other enterprises. The Central Steering Committee for Renewal of Enterprises is assigned to study this issue in order to make a concrete proposal to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister