Final article: Appropriate policies are needed when changing careers
There is no timely support mechanism or policy for the elimination of manual brick kilns, lack of suitable production conversion plans, lack of investment capital, difficulties in creating new jobs for workers or the problem of eliminating manual kilns of the traditional tile craft village of Cua - Tan Ky (because they are suitable for planning, but not suitable in terms of production technology)... These are the issues that need to be resolved in the implementation of eliminating manual brick kilns in our province.
Through discussions with some brick kiln owners in Nghi Loc, Do Luong, Thanh Chuong..., most of them committed to dismantling the manual brick kilns by the end of December 2013, but still had concerns about the support mechanism and policies after the dismantling, because they had invested a lot of effort and money in construction and brick business, moreover, the contracts of some brick kiln owners with the local government are still valid for a few more years, while the dismantling of brick kilns is not supported to switch to other jobs, causing economic losses for people and along with that, many workers lost their jobs.
Brick production using tunnel kiln technology at Hung Nguyen Brick, Tile and Construction Joint Stock Company.
Regarding this issue, we discussed with the Department of Construction staff and were explained that: The elimination of manual brick kilns in Nghe An was carried out according to the roadmap and was approved by relevant levels and sectors (the end of 2013 is the final deadline for eliminating manual brick kiln production) and was widely informed to the people. Thus, workers and brick kiln owners have time to prepare for the implementation plan and until now there has been no mechanism or policy to support the elimination of manual brick kilns.
It is difficult for brick kiln owners who have invested a lot of money in brick kilns and now have to demolish them, so some kilns have stopped burning bricks but still leave the kiln shells. In some cases, local authorities allow production to run out of raw materials or prolong the period to sell all remaining bricks in warehouses and yards... At this time, such wishes need to be considered reasonably, but local authorities and related sectors need to manage and supervise closely, because it will not be excluded that brick kiln owners take advantage of this reason to "delay" the elimination of manual kilns and illegal production.
Nghi Loc district leaders said: “Practical experience in solving the situation of manual brick kiln production in Nghi Loc is that after the kiln owners have finished their contracts and liquidated all their products, they need to immediately dismantle the kiln. This will completely solve the situation of reoccurring manual brick kiln production. Although there is no policy to support the dismantling of manual brick kilns, the district will soon submit to the District People's Council for approval a policy to support brick kiln owners who voluntarily dismantle them.”
In the written petitions sent by localities to the Department of Construction, along with proposals on support mechanisms and policies, career conversion is also mentioned quite a lot. Many brick kiln owners and workers become unemployed after ceasing brick production because they do not have a suitable and timely plan to convert production. Moreover, they lack capital and experience in the field of investment in new industries and occupations.
It is known that currently, some owners of manual brick kilns wish to invest in converting to producing bricks and tiles using tunnel kiln technology, but currently our province has a policy of not granting licenses for new investment projects to produce bricks and tiles using tunnel kiln technology, but encourages switching to unburned brick and tile investment projects (currently, only 4 investors in Vinh City and Nghi Loc have applied for projects to produce using unburned production technology). Brick kiln owners and workers are having a hard time finding a solution to the problem after dismantling manual brick kilns.
In particular, a current problem in Cua Tan Ky tile craft village is 158 handmade brick and tile production facilities (including 28 handmade brick kilns); most of these production facilities are in line with the province's traditional craft village development plan, but because they have been invested since 2006, they are not suitable in terms of technology and if demolished, it will affect the production and business situation of this traditional craft village.
Mr. Le Xuan Thanh - Chairman of Nghe An Tunnel Brick Production Association said: “According to the province’s plan, by 2017, in the plains, urban areas (cities, towns, townships), places near residential areas, near agricultural areas, all manual brick kilns, improved manual kilns, and continuous vertical kilns must be stopped. In particular, manual kilns will stop operating by 2013.
For the improved manual kiln, it will cease operation in 2015; the continuous vertical kiln will cease operation in 2017. Thus, in the coming time, the "pressure" on career conversion in the field of brick and tile production is very large, so the authorities at all levels and functional sectors need to pay attention and create conditions to provide timely support in terms of mechanisms, policies, investment capital... to support brick kiln owners and workers to change industries and occupations.
Hoang Vinh - Anh Tuan
