Living in misery because of suspended project in Southeast Economic Zone

Waiting for relocation

The N5 Road Project Phase 1 was approved by the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee in December 2008, with the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board as the investor, with a total investment of 760 billion VND. The road is nearly 7km long, 56m wide, passing through the communes of Nghi Thuan, Nghi Long, Nghi Xa and Nghi Hop of Nghi Loc district. The starting point intersects with Nghi Thuan inter-commune road; the end point intersects with National Highway 46 and Road 536 in Nghi Hop commune.

The project has completed 4.3km of construction through Nghi Thuan and Nghi Long communes. By the end of 2009, when the project reached Dong Vong cemetery in Nghi Xa commune, it stopped until now.

The construction project has stopped at Dong Vong cemetery area until now. Photo: PB

In Nghi Xa commune, the N5 road project runs through the commune for about 3km, and agricultural land and water surface land have been compensated to the people. Due to lack of funding, the site clearance work for the entire residential land area, garden land and assets on land of 14 households in hamlets 4 and 5 has not been completed. For many years, the lives of the people here have faced many difficulties.

“The 14 households above are subject to relocation and land concession for the construction of N5 road, so they are not allowed to divide their plots, renovate, or build new houses. Due to the long wait without the project being implemented, people’s houses have seriously deteriorated. Families with many children want to live separately in the garden but are not allowed to divide their plots and build houses. Many people have asked the commune People’s Committee to resolve the issue so they can build houses for their children, but the commune leaders do not know how to handle it,” said the leader of Nghi Xa commune.

Mrs. Ha's house's tiled roof collapsed once, luckily no one was injured. Photo: PB

Living in a dilapidated house left by her parents, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, resident of Hamlet 4, Nghi Xa Commune, said that her family has wanted to move to a new place for many years but has not been able to. Because the house was built a long time ago and is in a bad condition, in 2019, the entire tiled roof collapsed, fortunately no one was injured. Currently, the walls are cracked, peeling and could collapse at any time.

“When my parents were alive, their wish was to move to a resettlement area, so that they could live out their last years in a spacious, well-furnished house. However, my parents have been dead for more than 3 years, but that wish has yet to come true,” said Ms. Ha. Standing next to them, Mr. Nguyen Ke Loi said that the house was so dilapidated that his children working in Hanoi did not want to return home until Tet. They were afraid that their friends would come over and laugh at them if they saw the situation.

Mr. Nguyen Ke Tho's family took a risk by building a two-story house when the old house was badly damaged. Photo: PB

Unlike Mrs. Ha and Mr. Loi, Mr. Nguyen Ke Tho's family in September 2019 boldly submitted a petition to the Commune People's Committee asking for permission to build a new house because the old house was no longer safe and could not be repaired.

“There are three generations living in the house, but because of the N5 road construction plan, the land was not separated. The eldest son in the family also wanted to get married and live on his own, but because the government did not allow it, he kept hesitating. But by the end of last year, I could not wait any longer.”

Mr. Nguyen Ke Tho, Hamlet 4, Nghi Xa Commune, Nghi Loc

People have waited too long

Faced with the difficulties of the people, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho - Vice Chairman of Nghi Loc District People's Committee said: For now, the resettlement area has been completed, if the state does not have funds for site clearance, the district will be allowed to review households eligible for resettlement, and will be allowed to draw lots to divide the money among the households. People will spend their own money to build houses, and later in the compensation plan for site clearance, the land fee will be deducted according to regulations so that people can soon stabilize their lives.

Disagreeing with this proposal, Mr. Nguyen Ke Loi said that even if the government allowed people to draw lots and then build houses in the resettlement area, it would not be possible. “Building a normal level 4 house would cost 300-350 million VND, not to mention other auxiliary works. Now that the government has not paid compensation, where can people like us get that much money to build a house?” Mr. Loi said.

The drainage system in the resettlement area has deteriorated and is damaged after many years of disuse. Photo: PB

According to the people, the government needs to have a definitive answer to stabilize people's psychology, otherwise, making people wait anxiously year after year like this is very miserable. "We know that the N5 road project is to contribute to the socio-economic development of the locality, so we agree to move it. But making people wait for 12 years and possibly many more years is making people suffer too much," Mr. Loi lamented.

In response to the people's petitions, the Dong Nam Economic Zone Management Board sent an official dispatch to the Nghi Xa Commune People's Committee to respond. Accordingly, due to the lack of funding for the project, site clearance and construction work on the section from Km 4 + 300 to Km 6 + 937 through Nghi Xa and Nghi Hop communes are temporarily suspended until the end of 2020.

Mr. Phan Xuan Hoa - Deputy Head of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board said, we are proposing to allocate capital for implementation, prioritizing capital in 2020 of N5 road phase 1 for compensation and site clearance work and focusing capital to solve immediate problems, how to soon stabilize the lives of people here.

Mr. Nguyen Ke Phuong's house is dilapidated, the tiles are broken, and when it rains, water flows all over the house. Photo: PB

The Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone also believes that the request of households to build new houses within the project area will affect the compensation and site clearance work and the project's construction investment costs as well as the people's assets.

The Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone requests the People's Committee of Nghi Xa Commune to propagate and mobilize households to know and have appropriate solutions. For degraded and damaged housing projects within the project area, Nghi Xa Commune requests that households be allowed to renovate, repair, and upgrade to ensure the lives, welfare, and safety of the people.