Natural landscapes devastated by tourism overexploitation

The industrial production has poisoned natural landscapes with the pollution.
Called the “Ha Long bay No. 2” of Hanoi, the Quan Son ecotourism site in My Duc district is in the danger of getting devastated by the brick kilns and the ruins of the stone exploitation site.
Located in the area belonging to four communes of Hop Tien, Tuy Lai, Hong Son and Thuong Lam, the Quan Son ecotourism site has been well known for its charming beauty. Since 1960s, the Quan Son Lake has been surrounded by a 20 kilometer embankment which prevents the flood, stores water to provide to the 2,000 hectares of plants and aquaculture.
The Quan Son tourism site covers an area of 3,000 hectares, including the Quan Son lake area (850 hectares), nearly 100 limestone mountains with the rare and rich flora and fauna. Experts said the nature has favored Quan Son when giving the charming beauty to the land.
However, the charming land has been devastated seriously in recent years by the brick kilns, the stone exploitation and the agriculture production.
There in the deserted land plot which covers an area of tens of hectares in the commune of Hop Tien, one can see the vestiges of a stone exploitation site, the idle lime kilns now covered with green weeds. There are the primitive unroofed houses with only the walls left, which have been used by the local residents as the piggeries.
A local resident said that the stone exploitation was stopped some years ago. However, no one knows where the Ha Tay Building Material and Construction Company No. 2, the exploiter, has gone. What they know is that the exploiter has left a deserted and uncultivated land.
On the land area, a lot of new brick kilns have arisen which are day by day, devastating the beautiful natural landscape in Quan Son.
For the last tens of years, nearly 10 brick kills, running at full capacity all day, have taken away the soil, making it less fertile for cultivation, and generated black smoke, poisoning the atmosphere.
The trucks carrying bricks, soil and stone go around day and night, kicking dust and generating noise pollution, have been harming the life of local residents and preventing tourists from enjoying the wonderful landscapes.
Natural landscapes can bring big money to local residents by exploiting them. However, the overexploitation and the lack of investment have made the source of money gradually exhausted.
Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang province has been polluted with the waste water and garbage generated by the 85 hotels and resorts, more than 1,500 guest houses and rooms for rent.
A report of the district’s authorities said that the waste water from the hotels and resorts is collected then goes through a filter bed before it goes to the concentrated waste water system. Some other guest houses let the waste water go directly to the environment without any treatment.
Phung Xuan Mai, General Director of the Saigon – Phu Quoc tourism complex, complained that a lot of coastal resorts discharge the waste water directly to the sea, thus polluting the environment, but they have not been punished by the management agencies.
The island has suffered not only from the waste water from the hotels and guest houses, but also from the garbage and the oil discharged from thousands of fishing boats. At the fishing ports, the waste water from fish preliminary treatment is discharged directly to the sea.