Many families in Thanh Hoa City are living in deteriorating houses while the local authorities have been slow to implement a relocation project.

Dilapidated houses in the residential area

Dong Son drainage project, a relocation project to avoid natural disaster and a dyke upgrade were approved back in 2008 for the Tien Phong residential area, Nam Ngan Ward. However, nothing has been done and the daily lives of local people have been badly affected.

The residential area near the dyke for Ma River developed in 1959. 90-year-old Tran Thi Minh said she was one of the first households there and had to evacuate many times whenever the rainy season came. Her only wish is for her children to have a better house in another place.

"We built a small extra floor just to store stuff when the floods come. Sometimes, the house was flooded at 3-4 am. When the water withdrew, it left a layer of mud that could have been one metre thick," she said.

All five households with 16 people live in a 60-square-metre house. One of Minh's child died in the war. She also lost three others and the rest of her children didn't have the opportunity to go to school. They earn small incomes from selling bread, lottery tickets or working as a bricklayer.

74-year-old Doan Van Phuc has raised his floor by 40cm but his house still floods. 22 people live in an 80-square-metre house with a low roof which makes it difficult to walk around. After several upgrades, the dyke is now much higher than other houses so the locals have to use winding stairways to reach their homes.

"If the authorities really then let us build and upgrade the houses or relocate us to somewhere else," Pham Thi Thanh said.

There are over 200 households living in Tien Phong residential area. Since a relocation project has been agreed, the locals can't sell their dilapidated houses and they don't have money to move anywhere else. They have to face fresh water and electricity shortages.

Thanh Hoa City People's Committee also held a meeting with the locals over the relocation problem. 

Nguyen Van Hop, chairman of Nam Ngan Ward, said, "The city authorities have reported to the case to the provincial authorities many times but there's still no feedback. We have the land for relocation but lack the money."

Dtinews