Close-up of the life of "Robinson" on Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir
(Baonghean.vn) - People call the resettled people of Ban Ve Hydropower Plant who return to their hometowns in the reservoir "Robinsons". Because the areas where they live are like deserted islands, with no electricity, no water, no roads, no schools, no stations...
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| Going upstream (next to Ban Ve hydroelectric dam) for about 1 hour, you will encounter "villages" of households from Luan Mai, Huu Duong, Kim Da, Kim Tien communes who had migrated and resettled to Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son communes of Thanh Chuong district, or some communes of Que Phong district to give up land to build Ban Ve hydroelectric plant, now returning to their old hometowns. |
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| There are makeshift houses, houses built precariously on the mountain slope, very dangerous. |
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| Not only do they build houses on deserted islands, some households also build rafts to live on rivers for convenience in fishing. |
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| Rafts are usually not in a fixed location and frequently move across the lake to find and catch fish. |
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| Lo Van Tu is a skilled river fisherman. Tu's hometown is in the old Huu Duong commune. He followed his parents to migrate to Ngoc Lam commune in 2009, when Tu was 15 years old. In 2013, Tu and his parents returned to the lake. "We have to go back to work, raise livestock, and fish. In Ngoc Lam, there are only grandpa and grandma left...", Lo Van Tu said. |
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| The furthest place to live from the Ban Ve hydroelectric dam is Cha Luan village (the area of Cha Luan village, the old Luan Mai commune), about 60 km by river. Currently, there are 5 households, including the elderly and children of the old Cha Luan village, living here. |
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| The most prestigious person among the five households is Mr. Lo Van Chuong, former Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Luan Mai Commune. According to Mr. Chuong, returning to the lake, people raise livestock, cultivate crops, and go to the river to catch fish to make a living. Although it is hard work, it is "easier to live" than in Ngoc Lam Commune. |
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| This "Robinson" woman's name is Vi Thi Loan, 63 years old this year. She followed her husband, Mr. Lo Thanh Long, back to the lake area around 2010. Returning to the old village of Cha Luan, her family built a house close to the river, her husband went down to the river to fish while she worked on the fields, raised livestock and weaved. |
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| In this Cha Luan village, there are women who are about to give birth. In the photo is Kha Thi Chai, 21 years old, who just came to the lake area in 2018. When asked, Chai was quite innocent, not showing any concern when the oasis lacked the things women need to give birth. Simply because here "there is more food and drink than in Ngoc Lam". |
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| Lo Van Hung is one of the youngest "Robinsons" (8 years old, in 3rd grade). Hung said that because his parents work for a company, he followed his grandparents back to the lake area. Every day, he still goes to school in Phia Oi village (Nhon Mai commune), but he has to walk a bit far. According to the officers who went with him, the children returning to the lake area are very disadvantaged, because they do not have a household registration, so they do not enjoy the state's policies for children in the highlands. |
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| Children in the lake area are waiting for a boat to cross the river to pick vegetables and fruits. |
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One reason for returning to their hometowns, according to the people, is that they still have land assets but when implementing the Ban Ve hydropower project, the state has not compensated them. In the photo is Mr. Lo Duong Hanh. Information on his land use right certificate shows that Lo Duong Hanh's household was allocated land by the state with an area of over 7.8 hectares, for a term of 50 years. "No one has mentioned the recovery or compensation of the land the state granted to us...", Mr. Lo Duong Hanh said. |
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| According to an official of Tuong Duong district: There are currently 63 households, 213 people from Ngoc Lam commune; 25 households, 47 people from Thanh Son commune, and about 12 households, more than 30 people from Nam Nhoong and Tri Le communes living on the lake bed. They are originally from Tuong Duong, from the old communes of Luan Mai, Huu Duong, Kim Da, and Kim Tien. "The people's lives are difficult and hard. For the locality, there are difficulties in land management, as well as security and order issues...", said an official of Tuong Duong district. |