People from the border region of Que Phong have settled in Pu Sai Cang.

Excited to build a new house.

Visiting the Pù Sai Cáng resettlement area in Thông Thụ commune, Quế Phong district, Nghệ An province in early March, one can see many houses under construction with solid foundations, creating an atmosphere of urgency and excitement.

Having been attached to their ancestral land in Muong Piet village since birth, Ms. Luong Thi Hoa, as well as many members of her family, felt a deep sense of regret at having so many memories there. However, when the authorities encouraged them to relocate and they recognized the danger of landslides, the whole family saw this as an opportunity to move to a safer place, so they planned to dismantle their house and move to the new resettlement area.

Ms. Hoa's family won the lottery for plot number 15, with an area of ​​over 500 square meters.²In November 2024, the family began dismantling their house and transporting the materials to a storage area on their land. After the Lunar New Year, Ms. Hoa's family started rebuilding their house. Therefore, many people come and go daily to help the family complete the house as quickly as possible.

All the wooden parts of the three-room main house and two kitchens were moved from the old village, while the materials for the foundation, steel, cement, and paving stones were all purchased new. With the enthusiastic help of relatives and friends, the main house and kitchens are now structurally sound and the surrounding walls are being built.

Next to it is the wooden house of Mr. Luong Van Hung's family, whose wooden structure has just been completed. At this moment, the carpenters are busily smoothing out each plank stroke on the wooden panels to be used for the surrounding walls. To make the house more durable and beautiful, Mr. Hung's family invested in high-quality roof tiles.

For the family of Mr. Vi Van Ty at resettlement site number 2, they can now truly feel secure in their new home, which was completed just over a month ago.

Mr. Ty was delighted: "With all the money my family had saved, along with a 50 million VND grant from the government, we built a tube house on an area of ​​over 100 square meters."²With a total value of 180 million VND, not including some other auxiliary works, it will be completed in February 2025. Now the 5 members of the family can live here with complete peace of mind.

Mr. Luong Van Huan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thong Thu Commune, said: The Pu Sai Cang resettlement area consists of two adjacent locations (location 1 and location 2), with 33 residential plots allocated to 33 households living in high-risk areas prone to flash floods, landslides, and mudslides in the two villages of Muong Phu and Muong Piet. After the resettlement area is completed and handed over to the local authorities in mid-2024, the local government will directly promote and encourage households to promptly relocate to the resettlement area to stabilize their lives.

By the beginning of March 2025, 29 households had drawn lots to receive land plots, of which 18 households had already built or were in the process of building houses. The remaining 4 households have not yet drawn lots, and the commune continues to campaign and educate them, with the goal of ensuring that no households live in areas at high risk of flash floods and landslides.

"

To help households dismantle their houses and move materials, belongings, and household items to their new homes, the commune government assigned officials, youth union members, and militia to assist in carrying and transporting belongings onto trucks for delivery to the new residences, aiming to reduce costs and speed up the process for the people.

Mr. Luong Van Huan - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thong Thu Commune

Removing obstacles to help people "settle down and make a living"

According to residents, in the Pù Sai Cáng resettlement area, all infrastructure conditions regarding transportation and electricity have been basically met for people to build new homes. However, the biggest difficulty is the lack of clean water. Currently, people are pumping water from wells dug in the stream, but the water has a foul odor and is unsuitable for drinking.

Therefore, to get drinking water, the villagers have to return to their old village, more than 1km away from the resettlement area, to carry water in containers, which is not only arduous but also creates shortages. The people hope for a better life than in their old homes so that they can soon settle down and establish a stable livelihood.

Regarding solutions to address the lack of clean water for residents in the Pù Sai Cáng resettlement area, Mr. Lương Văn Huân – Chairman of the People's Committee of Thông Thụ commune – stated: Because the project to relocate 33 households from areas at risk of flash floods and landslides in Thông Thụ commune did not include a clean water supply component, the commune is currently implementing a clean water supply project funded by the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

Accordingly, the commune designed and constructed additional water reservoirs and connected water pipes from the community water supply system of Loc village to provide water to the Pu Sai Cang resettlement area.

"Currently, the design team is surveying the location for the water tank and water pipeline. The commune's goal is to complete the project soon to provide water to the people this coming summer," said Mr. Luong Van Huan.