Driving through the steep road up to Pieng Luong resettlement area, the first impression is an airy, quiet space, the roads are planned quite beautifully with spacious houses that have been and are being completed; many gardens have flowers and vegetables, some houses have planned livestock and poultry farming areas, fish ponds...
Joining hands with a group of workers to complete the final stages of a spacious house, Ms. Ha Thi Tuc and Mr. Vi Van Gui, who have been in the resettlement area since March 2022, excitedly said: “Our family originally lived in Hia village (Trung Thanh), our house was close to the stream, next to the corridor of National Highway 48, which was at risk of landslides. The area was cramped and there was no land for cultivation. We wanted to move to a new place. Now that the authorities have created conditions for us to move to the Pieng Luong resettlement area, we are very happy. In the era of “every inch of land is gold”, it is not easy to have a piece of land to settle down for the long term. Moreover, the terrain here is flat, the infrastructure is fully invested by the State, and we are supported with 15 million VND for relocation. We just need to build a solid house to feel secure in settling down. Now when it rains, we can sleep peacefully, no longer worrying about landslides and having to run away at any time,” Mr. Gui shared.
Opposite, on the right side, is the most spacious house in the resettlement area of Ms. Luong Thi Phuc (born in 1998) in Trung Thanh village and her husband, Mr. Ha Van Ngo. Ms. Phuc and her husband and two young children moved to Pieng Luong at the end of 2021, so everything has gradually stabilized. Ms. Phuc also renovated a small plot of land behind the house to grow vegetables and improve their lives. "In the old village, because we had no land, we lived with my husband's parents and my brother and his wife. Now that we have been able to settle down and build a new life here, the whole family is very excited and emotional...".
It is known that in 2009, based on the approval of the Provincial People's Committee, the Prime Minister and the People's Committee of Nghe An province implemented the Project on Sedentarization and Resettlement for nomadic ethnic minorities in Chau Thanh commune, Quy Hop district according to Decision No. 843/QD-UBND dated March 18, 2009. Accordingly, the Pieng Luong Sedentarization and Resettlement Project was inspected and surveyed to establish a plan for internal migration. According to the plan, the Pieng Luong resettlement area in Chau Thanh commune, Quy Hop district was built from 2009-2011, with a total investment capital of nearly 18.7 billion VND from the Central and local governments. The project's goal is to bring 50 households with 217 people from 5 villages: Tien Thanh, Trung Thanh, Co village, Bon village and Na An located in the landslide risk area of the Dinh river to live. Since 2009, the following construction items have been implemented: Leveling the ground, dividing plots for 50 households in Pieng Luong area, building internal roads, building power lines and 01 transformer station, and constructing a self-flowing domestic water system into the settlement area...
However, after more than ten years, the construction process was suspended due to lack of investment capital, so the construction items were left unfinished for a long time. In 2019, the Pieng Luong project continued to be implemented by the Project Management Board of the District People's Committee as the investor. By October 21, 2021, the Project Management Board had handed over the site and started construction of houses in the Pieng Luong resettlement area, with 50 households being re-approved from 7 villages including: Co village, Na Han, Tien Thanh, Trung Thanh, Cai village, Cham Hieng, Binh Tien... According to Mr. Luong Van Hai - Chairman of Chau Thanh Commune People's Committee: Households in the Pieng Luong resettlement area were each assigned 370-400m2 of land, and were supported with 15 million VND for transportation and relocation of houses. In addition, 30/50 households with the most difficult circumstances were supported with a breeding cow worth 15 million VND/household. These are poor households, families with many siblings and children, households with houses at risk of landslides and have a real need for residential land. Currently, 11 households have moved to permanent residence, some households are building and completing houses.
Putting the Pieng Luong Resettlement Area project into use will continue to serve the resettlement work in areas at risk of landslides, solving the problem of lack of housing for local people. As in the case of Mr. Kim Van Thien's family in Cai village, the family of 5 people was one of the first households to move to the resettlement area to build a house since October 2021. "Before, my family lived by the stream, every time there was a flood, we were always worried about landslides, now that we can live here, we no longer have to worry...", said Mr. Thien's son Kim Van Quang (born 2000).
For Mr. Lo Van Tinh, whose health is poor due to the effects of Agent Orange, and whose family is in difficult circumstances in Tien Thanh village, being given the opportunity to move to the Pieng Luong resettlement area and being supported with a breeding cow to create a livelihood is "a dream come true". "Everything is going well here, our family is currently in the process of building a house, the cow is still in the old place, when the house is finished, we can rest assured and settle down," Mr. Tinh said.
Besides the joy of their new home, people in the Pieng Luong resettlement area also shared many concerns and worries because the current water system is not stable. “After the floods, the pipeline was damaged, so clean water was sometimes lost, we had to ask for water from the local people, and water has only recently been restored,” said Ms. Luong Thi Phuc, a resident who has settled down in the Pieng Luong resettlement area.
Mr. Lang The My - Vice Chairman of Chau Thanh Commune People's Committee confirmed: After the storms, the commune sent a team to inspect the self-flowing domestic water project in Pieng Luong settlement, and found that the spillway containing water was 70% buried by rocks and sand. The 2 mud filter tanks and the upstream water intake tank leading to the pipeline to the main tanks were buried by more than 60% of rocks, sand and waste, causing the water pipeline to be blocked and unable to bring water back through the pipeline and main tanks. The water pipeline (about 3.9km long) was broken in 3 sections because it was built over steep hillsides and rocky mountainsides, without a solid support, so it was continuously damaged after the floods.
Regarding the ground, there were some landslides around the embankment as follows: At the location of the land plot of Mr. Luong Van Xuan's household, there was an erosion of the embankment 2m wide and 1.5m deep. At the location of the stadium land plot of Pieng Luong resettlement area, there were 2 erosions of the embankment, each 1m wide and 1m deep. The local government has made a written report to the People's Committee of Quy Hop district to send a team to inspect the self-flowing domestic water project in Pieng Luong resettlement area, and at the same time take measures to develop a plan and estimate for repairs. After more than 2 months of water loss, the water project has now been repaired and water has returned.
However, to ensure long-term stability, there are currently 4 water tanks in the Pieng Luong resettlement area, so people in the resettlement area want to be supported with a few wells to prevent incidents during the rainy season. In addition, people are also worried about the erosion phenomenon in the surrounding area when storms come. Currently, 4 households have landslides and Mr. Ha Van Hieu's newly built house has cracks so he does not dare to move in. According to our observations, the crack is quite wide, running from the yard through the yard, through the house to the back. The house's pillars are also cracked vertically, exposing the house's foundation. Not only the cracks inside the house, what makes Mr. Hieu's family more worried is that the embankment behind his family has a wide crack with a sliding arc of about 80-100. The widest crack is nearly 30cm, 0.5m - 1m deep. The long rain caused landslides near the houses behind Mr. Hieu's house, causing the entire fence of the people to collapse and be buried in the rocks and soil.
Faced with the above landslide phenomenon, not only the people of Pieng Luong resettlement area, Tien Thanh hamlet but also the officials of Chau Thanh commune hope that the District People's Committee and the Project Management Board will soon have a solution to overcome the situation so that people can live in peace for a long time. "The best solution is to build a dike to prevent landslides" - an official of Chau Thanh commune expressed.
In addition, the reality is that the road to Pieng Luong, about 100m long, is eroded and slippery, making it difficult to travel, while the households are mainly young families with small children. Students in the resettlement area have to go down to the commune to study, so people want the roads to be repaired to make it easier to travel. “In the resettlement area, men go to work far away, women stay at home. For example, my family has 2 small children, every day I have to go back and forth several times to take them to school, the road is slippery when it rains, dusty when it is sunny, I have fallen several times, so I want the traffic system to be more convenient to ensure safety. In addition, Pieng Luong resettlement area is isolated on a high hill, so we residents also hope to have a source of support for community houses to ensure the needs of collective activities of people in clusters, and have a street lighting system for the road system in the area” - Ms. Luong Thi Phuc expressed.
The leader of Chau Thanh commune said: Sharing the difficulties with the people in the resettlement area, the commune government has planned to invest 500 million VND to complete the road to Pieng Luong to help people settle down. Currently, in addition to the households that have settled down, there are about 15 households that are still in the process of building and completing their houses and some households that have gone to work far away. According to the timeline until the end of December this year, any household that does not move in will be considered for another household to move in. It is expected that after completion and stabilization, the local government will merge the Pieng Luong cluster into Tien Thanh village.
Despite the difficulties, the hope for a new life has been lit up in the Pieng Luong resettlement area. Although the residents here come from many different villages and hamlets of Chau Thanh commune, most of them are in difficult circumstances, they have a spirit of solidarity, helping each other to settle down and work, aiming for a new life of more prosperity and happiness.
