Environment
Central coast ruined by resort projects
  • | giaothong, dtinews.vn | January 15, 2019 03:15 PM
The central coast is being damaged by too many resort projects.


  

Erosion at Cua Dai Beach

A large area in Vinh Hai Commune, Thua Thien-Hue Province, eroded and swept away by a huge wave. The locals have to use sandbags and bamboo sticks to create a makeshift dyke.

A coastal section in Vinh Hai Commune is still eroding despite reinforcement. The restaurants by the beach are mostly deserted, a part of the beach in Phu Loc District and the casuarina forest have been damaged by the waves.

The sea already encroached upon the beach restaurants along Hoang Sa and Vo Nguyen Giap streets in Danang City. Several beaches including Sao Bien and Son Thuy are no longer used.

Cua Dai Beach in Quang Nam Province has been heavily damaged for years. In the past day, erosion continued to occur from Hoi An Beach Hotel to Marriott Hoi An Hotel Project. The embankment was damaged and restaurants were empty as five metres of erosion occurred.

Hoi An Chairman Nguyen Van Dung said a 7-km-long beach had eroded because ocean currents had moved differently due to sand dredging projects and random embankments made by various resort projects. "Once we have a comprehensive solution to deal with erosion, the resorts' embankments must be destroyed and rebuilt," he said.

Tang Quoc Chinh from the General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said beach erosion in the central coast had become more severe and complicated. There are at least 45 erosion spots on just 80 kilometres of beach. 25 of the spots, such as Cua Dai Beach, are facing so severe erosion that the local lives, belongings and infrastructure can be damaged.

According to Chinh, there are numerous reasons for such severe erosion, from building canals to destroying protected forests. Too many resorts on the beach also prevent accretion of sand. He went on to say that the investors built random erosion control constructions which were not guided by local authorities and worsened the situation.

"There used to a vast casuarina forest and sand dunes along the central coast which kept everything in balance until hotels and resorts sprouted up," he said.

Ho Duy Diem from the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Basin and Sea Strip added hydropower dams on the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River system to the list. The hydropower dams may be hindering sedimentation downstream and were responsible for severe erosion at Cua Dai Beach.

He also agreed that too many resorts with embankments were ruining the natural balance. He suggested trying to prevent hydropower projects and those affecting the coast.

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