The vagueness and unclear completion date of the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project has been discussed quite a lot recently. Even at the National Assembly forum, delegates used it as an example of a "typical" mega-project with over budget and slow progress.
Going up to Tan Lac capital of Quy Chau mountainous district in mid-November, we asked about the lives of the residents who had given up their land for the State to implement the Ban Mong irrigation project. The answer was that there were many sad and worrying stories. But we had to go to the border area of Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province to see the full picture, because in town we only heard a few stories and did not understand everything. So we went down to Chau Binh commune.
In Chau Binh commune, when asked about the resettlement of people after land acquisition, most of them looked sad. Because in reality, no households have been resettled. After receiving compensation and support funds, people are having to find their own accommodation. Some households have bought land to build houses. Some households have moved to other places after receiving compensation. Some are staying temporarily in their old places, renting houses, or staying with relatives... We asked to introduce some households that are having difficulty with housing. Chau Binh commune leaders sent a young cadastral officer to take us there. He said: "If you want to visit the households that are staying in the old village, go to Binh Quang. Otherwise, you can go to Dong Phau, just a few hundred meters from the commune headquarters, there are also some households...".
Choose Dong Phau and ask him to show you. After only about five minutes of riding a motorbike along Highway 48, to the area where the bridge is under construction, in the corridor of the auxiliary dam and the access road, the land officer stopped and pointed at the red dust-covered houses: “There. Dong Phau households waiting for resettlement land are living in this area”. Following the direction, there were about a dozen houses with scars, no fences; the entrances to the houses were right next to the road. Large vehicles passed by constantly, the dust was so thick that every house was covered with tarpaulin. Choosing a house with a missing roof, with traces of a broken house and still open, the land officer said: “This is Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chung’s house, we can go into this house…”.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chung is middle-aged, with a haggard, melancholy face. Knowing that a stranger was looking for information about the post-land acquisition story, he felt like he had an opportunity, so he poured out his heart. His family of 5 had their land acquired since the end of December 2021. With assets including 200 square meters of residential land, housing projects, gardens, etc., the compensation and support received was 1 billion VND. Before preparing the documents, the project's Compensation Council discussed with him that they would soon hand over the resettlement land. However, it has been almost a year, and there is still no resettlement land as the officials said. In the past, his family has moved twice. The first time, from the old house to a relative's house; then they moved to this place. This place was originally the house of a household whose land was also acquired. After receiving the money, they demolished the house to get usable materials and then moved to another place. Seeing that, Mr. Chung bought corrugated iron and iron rafters to re-roof it, and brought his family here to wait for the resettlement land.
Because the hardship of temporary housing is endless, Mr. Chung longs for resettlement land. “Only when we have a stable home can we have a stable job. Living in this situation, for nearly a year, my wife and I have not been able to do anything to improve our lives. The compensation we receive of 1 billion VND, if we buy a piece of land in Chau Binh, would cost 600 - 700 million VND, where would we get the money to build a house? But if this situation continues, all the compensation money will be spent. The mountain will collapse from the mouth…” – Mr. Chung lamented. Busy in the corner of the house cooking and listening to her husband discuss, Mr. Chung’s wife, Ms. Le Thi Son, also confided: I hope to soon have land to build a house…
Leaving Dong Phau, the land officer called Mr. Vu Duy Hung, the Chief of Binh Quang village, to invite him to visit the villagers who were staying in the old place. Mr. Hung is 63 years old this year and has been the Chief of the village for 16 years. On the way, Mr. Hung gave an overview of his village: “Binh Quang is now a 5-zero zone. No electricity, no roads, no schools, no stations and no phone signal.”
Only about 5km from Chau Binh commune center, but the road to Binh Quang is extremely difficult. Although as the village chief said, just a few days ago, the village committee decided to hire a machine to patch the road at a cost of 16 million VND. Mr. Hung said with a choked voice: “Binh Quang has 136 households, most of them are below the 71.86m flood level, only five or seven households are above the flood level. The site clearance work below the flood level has not been completely completed, but the kindergarten and primary school have all moved out since 2018, so most households have to move out to facilitate their children's education. Some have also moved to live elsewhere, but most of them need resettlement land. Because there is no resettlement land yet, while not everyone can buy land to build a house, some have to rely on relatives, or have to rent a house. The project is prolonged, there is no work here, compensation money is running out, so some households have returned to their old place. Currently, there are about 30 households living in the old place, their lives are therefore very difficult. On November 17, the village organized a Great Unity festival. To encourage those who stay, we slaughtered a calf, organize for people to have fun in the old village…”.
Crossing the rugged, winding dirt road along the hillsides, to an area planted exclusively with young acacia trees, Mr. Hung introduced: This is the end of Binh Quang village. In front is the Hieu River, across the river is the territory of Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. In the acacia area, there are a number of makeshift houses, old and new, with tightly closed doors. Asked by Mr. Hung, the State has reclaimed the land in this area, why do people still plant perennial trees, and it seems like there are new houses? “Because the State has not used the land, people replant acacia, accepting the risk of gambling. The new houses are just temporary constructions to have a place to live. In general, it is like gambling…” – Mr. Hung said bitterly.
After searching around, Mr. Vu Duy Hung took us to visit Ms. Nguyen Thi Tien's family. Ms. Tien has 3 children, 2 of whom are in junior high school, 1 in primary school. They live in a dilapidated, poor, shabby house, cluttered with farming tools. Seeing her hesitation, Mr. Hung encouraged her: "Here, there are few people passing by, life is wild but comfortable, do whatever you want..." Ms. Tien's family has 2 hectares of land of all kinds, but at 3 levels. 1 hectare below the flood level of 71.86m; half a hectare below the flood level of 76.4m; the rest, above the level of 76.4m. In 2018, the area below the level of 71.86m was confiscated, including residential land and houses, and the compensation and support fund received was 600 million VND. According to Ms. Tien, if she went to the commune center to buy land, it would be all gone, leaving no money to build a house. Therefore, she and her husband moved to the old house of her younger brother who had gone to the South to make a living, on a plot of land below the 76.4m level to live. “Every day, my husband and I still have to take our children to school. We take them in the morning and pick them up in the evening. We still grow acacia in the old garden and raise livestock to earn a living. We know it is wrong, but we have to take the risk…” – Ms. Tien shared.
Asked Nguyen Thi Tien, what has her family prepared for the future? She smiled sadly, then hesitantly replied: “The compensation for my family’s residential land has not been completed yet because it is related to 3 other households. Moreover, I am also waiting for the State to reclaim the land below the 76.4m flood level, because with only the money I have received, leaving would be impossible to stabilize. But if things continue like this, if all the money is gone, I don’t know what the future will be like…”.
In Chau Binh commune, we were shown the “List of resettlement wishes according to the plan of households in the resettlement project at location 2, area 2, slope 77, Chau Binh commune”. There were a total of 141 registered households, including Quynh 1, Quynh 2, Dong Phau, Hoa Binh, Binh 3, Binh Quang, Lau 2, and 3/2 villages. Of which, Dong Phau village had 49 households, and Binh Quang village had 58 households.
Telling what he saw in Chau Binh with Mr. Lo Thanh Son - Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Vice Chairman of the Compensation and Site Clearance Council of Quy Chau district. Having been involved in the site clearance work of the Ban Mong irrigation reservoir project for many years, Mr. Son has many thoughts. He said: “The Ban Mong irrigation reservoir project was decided in 2009 and started in 2010. According to the plan, it was to be completed in 2014, but now it is 2022 and it is still unfinished. Through many ministerial and provincial meetings, many people have said that this is the longest project in Vietnam. Quy Chau is a reservoir area of the project, mainly affected but not benefited much. With such construction progress, it greatly affects the socio-economic development of the district in general, and the impact on the spirit and property of the people is immense. People are living an insecure life. It is difficult to invest in construction or do anything. Even if someone dies, they do not know where to bury them, because the place where they live is in the water storage area, if they bury them there, what will they do if the water floods tomorrow? The district was assigned by the superiors to carry out the site clearance work, but with such a long process, the capital The annual allocation is only a trickle, and cannot be completed completely. The site clearance work has only been basically completed below the 71.86m level, but it has also encountered many difficulties. The people are suffering, but the government is also working very hard… Since last year until now, the capital has not been allocated again.”
To respond to the issue of resettlement of households whose land has been recovered, Mr. Son updated many documents sent by the district to the Management Board of Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project and competent authorities. See the latest document dated June 10, 2022, in the resettlement area of auxiliary dam 1, the first phase of site clearance has just been completed, the construction progress has reached 35%; but because there is no construction site for leveling the ground, it is necessary to wait for the first auxiliary dam, so the construction must be stopped or the project must be adjusted. In the resettlement area of slope 77, although the construction work has been completed, the slope of the leveling ground according to the design is too large, in the same plot of land the slope is up to 12%, not suitable for the actual arrangement of housing...
Asked Mr. Lo Thanh Son, how was the proposal of Quy Chau district responded? “The proposals to resolve difficulties, obstacles and progress plans of the district were all compiled by the Management Board of Ban Mong Irrigation Project and reported to the superiors. But the bottleneck is the capital issue. Therefore, Quy Chau district also has to wait, there is no other way…” – Mr. Lo Thanh Son replied thoughtfully.