Hot weather, workers 'struggle' in boarding house

(Baonghean.vn) - The peak heat wave in Nghe An in recent days has made the lives of workersNam Cam Industrial ParkLiving in Nghi Xa commune, Nghi Loc district has many difficulties.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong from Thach Ha (Ha Tinh) - a worker of BSE Electronics Company who rents a room in Hamlet 9, Nghi Xa Commune (Nghi Loc) shared: "The weather has been so hot these past few days that we have been "cooling down" by pouring water into a basin in front of a fan, then using wet towels to cover ourselves. What's worse is that this week I work the night shift, so during the day it's so hot that I can't sleep."

The rows of corrugated iron-roofed boarding houses in Nghi Xa, Nghi Loc are the daily living place of thousands of workers at Nam Cam Industrial Park.

Perhaps, Ms. Huong's "initiative" was not enough to cool down the air-tight room, especially when the mini gas stove was turned on to cook Ms. Huong's lunch.

Just placing a basin of water in front of the fan, Ms. Huong invited us to sit down and share her story: She has rented this room for over a year with a monthly rent of 500,000 VND. The room is cramped, has a corrugated iron roof, and only has a few ventilation windows, so it is very hot. A worker's monthly salary is over 3 million VND, and all expenses must be frugal, so she has to accept hardship and struggle to overcome it.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, from Thach Ha (Ha Tinh), a worker at BSE Electronics Company, rents a room in Hamlet 9, Nghi Xa Commune (Nghi Loc) and has to live in cramped, hot conditions.

In the scorching heat, we left Ms. Huong’s boarding house and went to the neighboring boarding house. Two rows of corrugated iron-roofed boarding houses lay exposed on the side of the village road. The doors, some were locked, some were not, but were all closed.

This is the anti-heat initiative of Mr. Le Van Dien, a worker at MaSan Company - Nam Cam Industrial Park after work in the boarding house.

Mr. Tri, the owner of a row of boarding houses in Hamlet 9, said: "Because workers only need to use rooms that are suitable for their limited salary, the family only builds small rooms that are suitable for the workers' budget. Here, the workers are supported by their families. In some cases, when the fan is broken, the family lends it to them to cope with the hot weather. The electricity and water bills are also collected when they receive their salary..."

Grandmother and grandchild are struggling to fight the 39 degree heat.0c in the boarding house in Nam Cam.

Nghi Loc district currently has more than 300 families with apartments for rent, with over 1,000 rooms for rent, but mainly concentrated in hamlets 8, 9, and 11 of Nghi Xa commune, near Nam Cam industrial park.

On average, each room is 6 to 10 square meters wide.², including kitchen, private toilet. The fee for each room is from 400 to 500 thousand VND per month, not including electricity and water. The majority of the people staying here are workers working in factories and companies in Nam Cam Industrial Park.

The average income of workers here is from 3 to 4 million VND/month/person. Living away from home has many expenses, they have to save and spend at a minimum.

Although 80% of the rented rooms in Nghi Loc are now improved compared to before, such as having tiled floors and a closed system of auxiliary works, they are all level IV houses with small areas, so they are very hot and stuffy in the summer.

Thu Hien - Quang Dung

Nghi Loc Station