Hung Nguyen: Fishermen wait wearily for land to come ashore

(Baonghean.vn) - The project to plan and allocate residential land for residents of Thanh Son and Thanh Thuy fishing villages in Hung Long commune (Hung Nguyen) was approved in March 2009 but has not yet been implemented.

On an area of ​​2.5 hectares of alluvial land inside hamlet 16, Hung Long commune is planned into 3 ways, with 48 locations for houses, cultural houses, traffic roads, drainage ditches... for 48 households in Thanh Son and Thanh Thuy fishing villages.

The households whose names were on the list were all excited, thinking they would soon be given land to build houses on shore, escaping the situation of a family of 5-6 people crammed together on a narrow boat, drifting on the river all year round.

“At that time, they came back to draw a plan for the residential land for the fishing village households. We were very happy. Some households had prepared money so that when they were granted land, they could build houses right away so that their children could go to school without difficulty. But after waiting for nearly 10 years, the project is still on paper. We don’t know when we will have a house,” said Mr. Luu Xuan Quang, a resident of Thanh Son fishing village.

The children grew up on a small boat, drifting on the Lam River all year round. Photo: Thanh Tam

Mr. Luu Xuan Man, former head of hamlet 16, Hung Long commune, also expressed: I do not understand why, although the province approved the project, the fishing villages of Hung Loi, Hung Chau, Hung Lam (Hung Nguyen) and Nam Loc (Nam Dan) have all been granted land to build houses on shore, while the fishing village of Hung Long has not been granted land yet.

Hung Long fishing village was formerly a boat transport cooperative. In the past, water transport was quite developed, but now it is becoming more and more difficult, so some households migrated to the Central Highlands to live, some households moved ashore and were given land to build houses, forming hamlet 16, Hung Long commune; those who stayed behind worked as sand and gravel transporters on the river, and others worked as fishermen.

The isolated, makeshift living space on narrow boats makes life even more difficult for fishing villagers. Photo: Thanh Tam

"Households that do not have land to build houses live a life of drifting on the river, sometimes they still come back to participate in activities with hamlet 16 Hung Long, especially on holidays, the fishing village residents go ashore to participate in the village's cultural and artistic activities. They are still waiting for the day the state grants them land to go ashore to build houses and stabilize their lives" - Mr. Nguyen Van Dang, hamlet chief of hamlet 16, Hung Long commune said.

In 2014, the authorities of Hung Long commune and Hung Nguyen district requested a policy of land use planning to allocate land in the form of valuation for more than 10 fishing households to build houses. Mr. Hoang Nghia Toan - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Long commune said: "Because there are many households living on the river, many households are too poor, the elderly want to go ashore, the commune solved the situation by requesting a policy of land use planning to allocate land in the form of valuation. The land can only accommodate a few households, it cannot be expanded for fear of future landslides".

The livelihood of Thanh Son fishing village, hamlet 16, Hung Long commune (Hung Nguyen). Photo: Thanh Tam

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Trong - Party Secretary of Hamlet 16, Hung Long Commune said: "Currently, Hamlet 16, Hung Long Commune still has 35 fishing households drifting on the river, there are households with 2-3 generations of nearly 10 people living together on a boat. Their current life is also very difficult, their jobs are unstable. Many households with small children living on boats are at risk of being unsafe during the rainy season"./.

Thanh Tam