Central Food Company ignores people's petition

(Baonghean.vn)- VThe construction of a 13-storey service and office building in Hung Dung Ward, Vinh City (next to Cua Dong Hospital) by the Central Food Company Limited did not ensure safety and continuously caused dust, making people angry, but the investor still ignored it.

People are angry

Sending a petition to Nghe An Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (residing at No. 48, Lane 1A, Duy Tan Street, Trung Yen Block, Hung Dung Ward) indignantly reported that her family has a 2-storey house next to the construction site of the Central Food Company Limited. Because the 13-storey construction site of this organization is about 40m high, only about 1m away from Ms. Hoa's house, there are continuous incidents and the living environment of the entire residential area is heavily polluted.

13-storey office and service building project of Central Food Company Limited.

In the petition, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa described: “During the construction process, an incident occurred, endangering the lives and property of our family and surrounding households; causing damage to houses and property; causing environmental pollution, noise pollution, falling construction materials, seriously affecting daily life. In addition, due to the difference in height of the construction, the distance between the constructions was too close, causing subsidence of the foundation, leading to tilting and long-term cracks between my house and the adjacent house…”.

Also in the petition, Ms. Hoa reflected that she had sent a petition to the representative of the Project Management Board and the investor, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Kien - Director of Central Food Company Limited (November 16, 2016), but did not receive any response.

The crack runs between the wall of Mrs. Hoa's house and the neighboring family's house.

Arriving at Ms. Hoa's house (December 5), the first feeling was the suffocation caused by dust flying from the floors under construction. Dust, clearly visible to the naked eye. Because not only Ms. Hoa's house but all the trees and houses in the area were covered with thick dust. Especially the roofs, balconies, and corridors of 2- and 3-storey houses, in addition to dust, were also scattered with construction materials. The cause was easily determined because of the construction of high-rise buildings, but the entire building was only covered with a thin layer of plastic mesh.

On the roofs near the 13-storey building, full of dust and mortar.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, the whole family was always in fear because there were materials such as iron, bricks, and concrete falling down. The most dangerous moment was around 4:00 p.m. on October 27, 2016. At that time, only Ms. Hoa's daughter, Ms. Le Thi Mai Phuong, was at home. Ms. Phuong heard a very loud noise coming from the second floor. When she went up to check, she saw two large iron bars breaking the corrugated iron roof of the second floor of her house. "Luckily, Phuong was not doing anything up there at that time. Otherwise, her life would have been lost..." - Ms. Hoa said.

The corrugated iron roof was punctured by falling iron from a 13-story building and has been re-roofed.

Regarding the house being tilted and cracked, through observation, the plaster layer between Ms. Hoa's house and the adjacent house of Mr. Ngo Sy Tuan has a new long crack, about 0.5 cm wide; the wall on the second floor also has a long crack... "I think the distance between building a 13-storey house and the residential area is unreasonable. Meanwhile, the construction is not safe, causing serious environmental pollution, affecting the housing projects of the people. Moreover, their attitude and behavior are very bad. Even though they sent people to re-roof the corrugated iron roof, promising this and that, their people made statements that looked down on my family and the people in the area. Not only me but the surrounding households are also very upset..."

Investors "ignore" the law?

According to the officials of Hung Dung Ward, the ward only knew about Ms. Hoa's personal complaint when the City People's Committee issued a document. However, the Departments of Construction and Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs also received the complaint, so the ward only coordinated and participated in handling it.

Mr. Bui Xuan Thanh - urban officer of Hung Dung Ward said that on the afternoon of November 30, 2016, representatives of departments and wards met with Ms. Hoa; then, they went to the field to inspect. Regarding labor safety, the staff of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs concluded that it was not guaranteed; regarding subsidence and cracking, the inspector of the Department of Construction made a record but did not have a conclusion. Regarding the issue of environmental pollution, it was as reported.

Just park your car near the 13-story building for about 30 minutes and your car will be covered in dust.

Mr. Thanh said: “Regarding subsidence and cracking, the subjective assessment is not accurate, it is necessary to let the specialized agency have an opinion. Regarding the environment, the project owner has taken measures but they have not been guaranteed. This is a reality that is happening in many projects in the city. Every investor makes a commitment when preparing the documents, but when constructing, they do not ensure. Regarding this issue, it is very difficult for the ward and commune levels to handle. Regarding the dust caused to Ms. Hoa's house, the investor agreed to pay 200,000 VND per week for the family to hire someone to clean up…”.

In documents related to the construction permit for the Service House and Office project of the Central Food Company Limited, almost all authorities require the investor to strictly comply with labor safety and environmental protection. However, since December 27, 2015, during the site clearance process of the project, the investor of this project has been protested by the people.

In the minutes of the meeting held by the People's Committee of Hung Dung Ward, the head of the Trung Yen block reported: “… The company expanded the campus and constructed works, but the company did not implement environmental protection measures, did not notify the block, and did not ask for the opinions of households, causing conflicts between households and the company. Many households called the block head…”.

According to the provisions of Point D, Article 19, Decree No. 64/2012/ND-CP on granting construction permits, the investor of a construction project must "Ensure safety, hygiene, and environment during the construction process". For the situation of not ensuring labor safety and causing environmental pollution, it is clear that the Central Food Company Limited must be responsible to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa and the people in the affected area. And the relevant units on environment and urban areas need to pay attention and inspect to promptly rectify the construction of this project.

Mrs. Hoa's hallway was covered with a thick layer of dust. To clean it, she had to cover her head and face with a towel.

One more thing that needs to be added is that according to Ms. Hoa's reflection, at 4:00 p.m. on November 30, 2016, she received a phone call from a person claiming to be a construction inspector asking her to come to the ward office to resolve the petition. When she arrived, the inspector from the Department of Construction used reasoning to ask her to withdraw the petition. And Ms. Hoa was very indignant because "requesting citizens to come to work must also have a written notice in advance, who would call like that in the late afternoon, close to the time I had to pick up my child. Moreover, what a strange way to resolve the petition, not knowing how the people were affected but already asking to withdraw the petition...".

Some participants in the meeting, when asked, confirmed Ms. Hoa's reflection. It can be seen that the Department of Construction needs to rectify the working style of its officials and civil servants. It is necessary to see that the construction industry is partly responsible for the unsafety and environmental pollution caused by construction projects in the province. Therefore, when people have reflections, it is necessary to handle the information objectively, and to have the right attitude, and not to let people lose faith in the law and in state agencies.

Ha Giang