Continuously discovered fishing boats carrying passengers

Through the work of grasping the situation, in July, the Waterway Police Team - Traffic Police Department (Binh Thuan Police) discovered and strictly handled cases of fishermen using fishing boats to provide illegal tourist transportation services on Ca Ty River, Phan Thiet City.

On July 6, the Phan Thiet City Border Control Station Coordination Team inspected fishing boat BTh-80038-TS carrying 20 people eating and drinking on the Ca Ty River (below the Ca Ty Bridge, in Quarter 6, Phu Tai Ward, Phan Thiet City).

All 20 people were not wearing life jackets. The driver could not produce documents related to the people and vehicle.

On July 14, the Working Group continued to discover and inspect a watercraft without a registration number, carrying 13 people eating and drinking on the Ca Ty River.

All 13 people were not wearing life jackets; the driver was unable to produce relevant documents.

After working, the two vehicle owners admitted their violations. The Waterway Police Team drew up a record of violations for the two cases above, and decided to impose a fine of 5.5 million VND.

At the same time, instruct vehicle owners and drivers to write a commitment not to use watercraft to carry passengers without permission from the competent authority.

Why not exploit tourism on Ca Ty river?

Before authorities discovered fishing boats arbitrarily transporting tourists on the Ca Ty River, many tourists and travel agencies expressed their desire to exploit this river for tourism purposes.

Mr. Bui The Nhan - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan province, said that the locality has researched this type, but so far has not met the conditions for implementation. According to Mr. Nhan, the quality of water sources on the Ca Ty River is not guaranteed, and the shore services are not complete, so there are not enough conditions to exploit this route.

"The Department has been researching and nurturing the potential for tourism exploitation on the Ca Ty River for a long time. Currently, we are waiting for the embankment to be completed, and then the area above will be cleared, then we will research and implement the project. At that time, we will build more docks to welcome tourists in Hung Long ward, and related services, ensuring safety and hygiene. We must build synchronously before putting it into operation, to avoid the situation where everyone goes their own way and cannot be managed" - said the Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan province.

It is known that many years ago, there was a unit that organized a pilot program to pick up and drop off tourists on the Ca Ty River. However, due to many reasons, including the lack of parking lots, the shabby landscape on both sides of the river, and conflicts with fishing boats, the pilot program was unsuccessful.