'Ghost village' in the upper Lam River
(Baonghean.vn) - Khe O resettlement area (Tuong Duong, Nghe An) was built 15 years ago for households who had given up their land for Ban Ve Hydropower Plant. However, just a few years later, most of the households had to move to other places to live, turning this place into a "ghost village".
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| In 2004, to build Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, thousands of households had to give up their land and move to new places. Among them, more than 40 households in Ve village (Yen Na commune) were moved to Khe O resettlement area. This resettlement area is located about 3 km from the old village, on the mountainside, at the foot of the mountain is Nam Non river, the upper source of Lam river. |
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| However, after a short time, this resettlement area became deserted. To date, only 3 households remain. Due to the desolate landscape and few people passing by, the nearby people often call this area "ghost village". |
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In 2010, after several heavy rains, a giant rock right behind Mrs. Quang Thi Mai's kitchen suddenly rolled down. Hearing a strange noise, Mr. Lo Thanh Xuan, Mrs. Mai's husband, ran out to check and was able to call for Mrs. Mai and her two children to run outside to save themselves. The rock rolled down, crushed the kitchen and broke in two, one half rolled onto the street, the other half into the abyss.After that, the mountain behind 7 households near Mrs. Mai's house was at risk of collapsing. The government inspected and supported each family with 7 million VND to relocate their houses. Not long after, people discovered a long crack running around the back of the resettlement area. Fearing danger, people gradually left the resettlement area and returned to their old village to build temporary houses along the Nam Non River. |
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According to the locals, before the relocation, the project owner held a meeting to ask for their opinions on the resettlement site and there were two options: moving to Thanh Chuong district or moving areas around the old village such as Khe O mountain. “To Thanh Chuong is more than 150 km away, too far so no one wanted to move, so they had to choose to move. At that time, they promised that the resettlement area would be better than the old place. They also built new houses so the locals agreed,” said a resident. |
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Over a long period of time, due to lack of use and management, the roofs of the abandoned houses in this resettlement area have been removed. Windows and walls are damaged and peeling. Other auxiliary works such as roads, clean water works, cultural houses, etc. have also fallen into serious disrepair and degradation. |
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Regarding this issue, the leader of Tuong Duong district admitted that due to the urgent need to relocate and clear the land for Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, the selection and survey of the location to build the Khe O resettlement area was not reasonable. This area has weak geology and terrain, leading to landslides. The investor has a safe embankment plan, but large landslides force people to be relocated from the dangerous area in the resettlement area. |
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“We really wanted to leave, but we are old and it is hard to build a house, so we had to stay,” said Ms. Luong Thi Minh (76 years old), one of the three remaining households. Her children have gone far away, and she is now the only one left in this household. |
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| A desolate scene in Khe O resettlement area. People here still lack land for production, each house only has land to live and a small garden, but the land is full of rocks and gravel and steep so no trees can be grown. The inter-commune asphalt road is sometimes eroded by floods and rains, making it very difficult for people to travel, especially taking their children to school far away, making people discouraged. |
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| The area where dozens of Khe O households have sought refuge after fleeing is the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant’s waste dump. This area is also at risk of landslides and flooding. In 2018, Ban Ve Hydropower Plant discharged floodwaters, causing many houses to be deeply flooded, of which nearly 20 houses were swept away. Fortunately, all residents were able to evacuate in advance. |
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Ban Ve Hydropower Plant is the largest hydropower plant in the North Central region, put into operation since 2010, and in a few years, the project will recover its investment. To build this hydropower plant, 4 communes were completely wiped out. More than 3,000 households had to relocate and give up their land for the project... |
The leader of Tuong Duong district said: Up to now, there are still many unresolved problems, especially compensation. Among them, we can mention the production support regime for 312 households directly engaged in agricultural production in concentrated resettlement areas that were allocated agricultural land by the State in the form of land for land. The total amount of support for this amount is nearly 5 billion VND, but after many meetings, the investor has not yet paid.
Regarding agricultural extension support for households subject to resettlement, the Compensation Council for Land Acquisition and Site Clearance has long submitted to the investor with a total budget of 273 million VND. However, up to now, the investor has not yet agreed, so there is no budget for implementation.
Regarding the support regime for repairing resettlement houses built by investors for people: The Compensation and Site Clearance Council has completed the work of preparing documents for the support regime for repairing resettlement houses and public works built by investors: This content has been agreed by the Government in Notice 143/TB-VPCP, but up to now, the budget has not been arranged to pay the people, with a total support budget of 2.5 billion VND.
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