Sad stories in resettlement areas for people in landslide areas

For many years now, the familiar image every time you set foot in Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong district) is solid houses torn apart by floodwaters, leaving only the foundations and torn walls. Along with that are the dilapidated shacks, built by people who lost their homes temporarily by the roadside to take shelter, waiting to reach the resettlement area.

Two emergency resettlement projects have been implemented in this commune, with a duration of 5 months. However, nearly 5 years have passed, and both resettlement areas have not been completed. During the waiting period, 8 people have died in such huts. Without houses, funerals have to be held right on the roadside and many narrow huts do not even have enough space to place an altar.

Houses torn apart by floodwaters in 2018. File photo

2 times choosing landslide points to make resettlement areas

At the end of August 2018, after record-breaking floods, Ban Ve Hydropower Plant was forced to release water, severely affecting many houses downstream. Many solid houses were torn apart by the flood and swept away into the river. People had to set up temporary tents and take shelter on the side of the road.

In Luong Minh commune, 31 households were forced to relocate urgently after this flood discharge from the hydropower plant. Of these, 12 households were in La village, 12 households were in Minh Phuong village, 7 households were in Xop Mat village and Coi village. Nearly 2 months later, Tuong Duong district approved a resettlement project to urgently accommodate these households. The location chosen for the resettlement area was in Xop Mat village. Due to the fear of moving far away, households in Coi village asked to find land to relocate near their homes, 12 households in La village also applied to move to another resettlement area closer. Therefore, this project only built infrastructure, accommodating 17 households in Minh Phuong and Xop Mat villages.

This resettlement project has a total budget of more than 7.3 billion VND, of which more than 2 billion VND is for site clearance fees, the rest is used for infrastructure construction. The project implementation time is 5 months. However, for some reason, the area chosen for resettlement is located on a rather steep hillside and has a history of serious landslides. This area is still called Khe Cong by local people.

Khe Cong resettlement area currently has only 6 households in need and only 4 households have moved in. Photo: Tien Hung

The leader of Luong Minh commune said that more than 10 years ago, the old Xop Mat village area had deep cracks and serious landslides. The local government was forced to relocate the entire village and the commune administrative center to another location. The initial area chosen to relocate Xop Mat village was Khe Cong. However, after leveling the ground, before people could move in, many cracks and landslides appeared again. Therefore, this area had to be abandoned, even though more than 2 billion VND had been invested in leveling.

In 2018, after surveying a series of locations, Tuong Duong district continued to choose this location as a resettlement area for 17 households in Minh Phuong and Xop Mat villages. In December 2019, when the project was about 95% completed, the government began to mobilize people to build houses. However, when only 1 household had finished building a house, this resettlement area continued to collapse. Specifically, on the top of the slope, a slide of nearly 100m long appeared, the widest crack was about 0.5m, about 0.5 to 1m deep; the base of the embankment made of rubble protecting the bottom of the slope and the drainage ditch was moved from its original position, causing the drainage ditch at the foot of the slope to break and damage. Fearing the impact on people's lives, the government asked people to temporarily not build houses, waiting for the results of monitoring the stability.

But it was not until more than 2 years later that this area was surveyed geologically. The results showed that "it is safe for people to build houses and stabilize their lives". However, due to having to wait too long, 11 out of 17 households had to find land to build houses themselves. Therefore, only 6 households are in need of resettlement. Up to now, according to the reporter's records, this resettlement area has only 2 households living stably, the other 2 households are building temporary houses.

Mr. La Van Thai - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Tuong Duong district said that when implementing the resettlement project for 17 households, the district spent the funds first, but then the capital allocation was slow, so the project was behind schedule. Due to landslides, this project is being asked for additional funding to build embankments of more than 2 billion VND.

Thus, the total amount of money invested in this resettlement project is more than 9.34 billion VND. Up to now, the proposal to spend an additional 2 billion VND for repairs is more than 11 billion VND. A huge amount of money, but only to serve 6 households and currently only 4 households have moved in. In addition, no one is sure whether this resettlement area will continue to erode after spending an additional 2 billion VND to complete the embankment?

Landslide at resettlement area. Photo: Tien Hung

Waiting wearily

In Luong Minh commune, in addition to the resettlement project for 17 households built in Khe Cong, there is also a resettlement project for 34 households built in La village that is also behind schedule, affecting people's lives.

According to Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc - Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Minh Commune, in 2014, after the Nam Non Hydropower Plant came into operation, there were 34 households living along the lake bed at high risk of landslides at any time. "People have repeatedly expressed their opinions, we had to go directly to work with the hydropower plant but they did not take any action. It was not until July 2018, when many houses began to crack and gradually slide down the river, that there was a plan to compensate and relocate the 34 households," said Mr. Phuc.

The project to urgently relocate 34 households out of the dangerous landslide area has a total investment of 14.8 billion VND. The resettlement area is located on a hill behind the headquarters of the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune, in La village. While surveying the geographical location for the project, at the end of August 2018, 31 households downstream of Ban Ve Hydropower Plant were severely affected, some houses were eroded, washed away by water... Among them, there are 12 households in La village. Therefore, these 12 households requested to be resettled in this area instead of going to the resettlement project in Xop Mat village because it is too far away.

After Luong Minh commune proposed, Tuong Duong district allowed to adjust the project, adding 12 more plots of land, increasing the number of households in this resettlement area from 34 to 46. "However, after the adjustment, it was found that the plots of land were too small. Some households only had more than 100m2², not enough to build stilt houses according to local customs. Therefore, the project had to be adjusted again, moving 12 households in La village out. Therefore, these 12 households are still helpless, not knowing where to move to," Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc added.

The resettlement area for 34 households in La village is also not yet completed. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the reporter, after 5 years of implementation, this emergency resettlement project has not been completed yet. However, because they could not wait any longer, some households have built houses to live in. In addition, because of the long wait, 14 households had to spend their own money to find a location and hire machinery to level the ground to build houses. Thus, this resettlement area has only 20 households in need of living.

“We cannot wait any longer, we should have been relocated more than 10 years ago. But the project was not completed until 2018, and it is still not finished,” said Vi Thi Luong, one of the households who has moved into the resettlement area.

Ms. Luong's old house, located next to the suspension bridge of Ban La village, was subject to relocation because it was located under the flood level of Nam Non Hydropower Reservoir. In 2018, the house completely collapsed. The whole family had to set up a temporary tent by the roadside. The 80 million VND compensation has also been spent.

Although many items in the resettlement area are not yet completed, due to the long wait, some households still go to build houses. Photo: Tien Hung

“Over the past five years, eight people who were relocated under two resettlement projects died in temporary tents while waiting for their new homes. It was heartbreaking. Funerals were only held on the roadside, and to this day, some of the dead still have no altars because they have not yet been to the resettlement area,” said Chairman of the People’s Committee of Luong Minh Commune.

According to Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc, the resettlement project in La village is almost completed, but now another problem has arisen. That is the rights of 14 households who have spent their own money to find land to build houses because of waiting too long. “They have spent hundreds of millions of dong to dig up new land to build houses. Now, even though they no longer need to go to the resettlement area, their rights are still there. Therefore, we think we should grant them,” Mr. Phuc added.