Thousands of temporary houses which are made from pieces of wood and sheet metal are located on or along Te Canal in District 4.

Nguyen Thi Le, a local resident, said that her family has six members who all live in a 60-square metre wooden house. She hoped that her family would be relocated to another place to avoid the severe pollution.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,200 houses are built along the two banks of the 6.2-kilometre Xuyen Tam Canal.

Nguyen Thi Huong, who lives in a 45-square metre house by Tam Canal said that he started hearing about being relocated around 20 years ago. However, to date, nothing has been done, so her house has continued deteriorating.

According to the municipal Construction Department, the city has cleared 2,479 among a total of nearly 20,000 houses on or along local canals, representing 12.4 percent of the total.

Huynh Thanh Khiet, deputy director of the department, admitted the slow pace of the work, attributing this to difficulties in site clearance compensation as well as administrative procedures.

Khiet added that from now to 2025, the city has set a goal to relocate 14,000 houses, prioritising three key projects to upgrade and dredge Xuyen Tam, Hy Vong and Van Thanh canals.

Source: Dtinews