Vinh City: 28 households live in insecurity because the Le Mao road project is delayed.

Unsafe living conditions

According to the residents, before the projectNew urban areaHandico 30 and Le Mao Street, Block 2 Tan Phuong area is near Vinh River and the surrounding terrain is lower so it rarely floods. However, since Le Mao Street and surrounding housing projects have raised the ground, the area fromLe Mao extended streetCurrently, the distance from Vinh River to nearly 400m has become a deep depression, like a waste water bag every time it rains.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Khuong's level 4 house is degraded and is the deepest flooded spot every time it rains. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Ms. Tran Thi Nghia, a resident here, after taking us around and introducing each house location that is heavily flooded every time it rains heavily, said: When it rains moderately, we just worry about jacking up vehicles, but when it rains heavily and the water is several meters deep, we have to jack up furniture and move it. Every time it floods, cleaning the house and furniture is difficult because the water is mainly sewage, which smells bad and is very dirty black.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Manh - Chairman of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee said: The terrain of this area is quite deep and there are no drainage ditches. In addition, every time there is heavy rain, water flows through the surrounding drainage ditches, causing the flood to be fast and deep. The fastest flood lasted 2 days and the longest took 7 days to recede. The most recent time was the rain in mid-November 2022, this area was flooded a meter deep, the ward had to mobilize forces to move and jack up furniture for people; at the same time, it was proposed to the city to use large-capacity field pumps to pump water into the Vinh River.

Mr. Tran Van Truong's makeshift house currently has 3 generations living there, with an area of ​​up to 1,200 square meters, but the land cannot be divided for his children to build a house or upgrade. Photo: Nguyen Hai

According to the reporter's observation, due to the deep terrain and being surrounded by high-rise projects, most of this area is level 4 houses built in the 1970s and 1980s, often flooded, so they are now severely degraded. For safety reasons, many households have petitioned the ward to upgrade and repair but have not been approved.

Mr. Tran Van Truong - a resident here said: Since the Le Mao road was extended to the back of the house, my house has been flooded 2-3 times a year, and the furniture in the house has also deteriorated more quickly. The family has lived on a 1,200 square meter plot of land for more than 40 years, and several level 4 houses have been severely degraded but have not been repaired. The family has 3 generations with 5 couples, children and grandchildren, but cannot separate households, make land use right certificates to build houses, and their life together is extremely difficult and miserable. The children are grown up, but the house is dilapidated and damp. Normally it is fine, but when it rains heavily, they are always worried and anxious.

Ms. Tran Thi Nghia said that her family has been waiting for many years and wants to be resettled and relocated soon to stabilize their lives. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Not far away is the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Khuong, who lives in the lowest position in the area. Her husband passed away not long ago and the house only has 2 temporary rooms, so she had to set up an altar in one room, and she and her children had to build a shack in the yard to eat and live. Her family lives at the end of the village and is surrounded by land filled with roads and an unfinished urban area, so when it rains, it floods. To be on the safe side, Mrs. Khuong had to transport construction waste materials to build a high platform next to it in case of heavy rain and the house is flooded, so she could move her belongings up. When talking about this, the corners of Mrs. Khuong's eyes turned red: Farming is hard, but right next to the new urban area, there is a residential area that is even harder than fishermen, the water is black and stinky...

In another corner, Mr. Tran Van Ly's level 4 house must be covered with a tarpaulin to prevent rain and leaks. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The households in the affected area live in misery and insecurity, but Nguyen Hung's family is no less unfortunate. The reason is that he bought land near the extended Le Mao Street and was granted a land use rights certificate in 2012. Initially, the land was not affected, so in 2018 he prepared to build a house, the design procedures were completed, but when applying for a construction permit, the reason was that the city changed the planning and expanded the road, so it affected his land. However, since then, the road has not been seen, compensation has not been paid, and the house cannot be built; the family has to rent a temporary house nearby, which is quite damp, making living extremely inconvenient...

Mr. Tran Van Truong's sons are taking advantage of the opportunity to repair the family's outhouse to limit water seepage when it rains. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Meanwhile, because he was familiar with the area and had attended many meetings and recommendations related to the project, when asked, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhac, head of Block 2 Tan Phuong, smiled bitterly: The hardships of 28 households in Block 2 Tan Phuong after more than 10 years of waiting cannot be fully described. The Block and Ward have repeatedly made recommendations to higher levels, but no one knows when they will be understood and resolved.

Talking to us, most households want the project to resume construction as soon as possible, the ward and city need to quickly have a compensation and support plan to resettle people to new housing.

Wait until when?

According to the design, the Le Mao extended road, from the starting point of Tran Phu street to the Vinh river bank, about 1.5 km, is invested in the form of BT, the investor is Hanoi Housing Investment and Trading Joint Stock Corporation Handico 30. Accordingly, Handico30 will construct the above road and in return, the province will allocate land fund equivalent to the value of the project for Handico30 to carry out the Urban Area project. However, after completing the construction of the section from Tran Phu intersection to the entrance road to the current New Urban Area project and carrying out site clearance procedures, the section from the gate of the New Urban Area project to the Vinh river bank in the area of ​​​​Block 2 Tan Phuong (Vinh Tan), the BT investment policy was stopped.

The initial location where the investor planned to resettle households if the project was implemented under the BT form has now stopped and a new location has to be found. Photo: Nguyen Hai

According to the original plan, if the construction was carried out under the BT form, Handico 30 had a plan to allocate land for 28 affected households to resettle in the surrounding area. However, due to the BT investment being stopped, at that time, although Handico 30 had already started construction, it was forced to stop and switch to the public investment form. However, due to the city's lack of capital, the project has been stopped since then.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Manh - Chairman of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee shared: Currently, the Le Mao extended road project has been transferred to public investment with the advantage of being invested by the State and the project is currently being prepared by the city for a feasibility report, expected to complete bidding procedures in the third quarter of 2023 and strive to start construction in 2024. However, the challenge is that most of the affected households want to resettle in the ward. Therefore, under the direction of the City People's Committee, the ward will hold a meeting with the people to announce the policy of restarting the project based on a survey, grasping the aspirations of the people and organizing a new inventory and compiling compensation records.

According to research, although the previous survey was 28 households, after more than 10 years, the number of households has increased so it is necessary to survey and count again. Therefore, the estimated resettlement land fund for this area is about 16,000m2.²and Vinh Tan ward currently has no such position so the city is searching.

The Le Mao extended road project has been stopped at the entrance to the new urban area for more than 10 years and it is unknown when it will start and continue construction. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The representative of Vinh Tan Ward People's Committee said: The construction of the Le Mao extended road project is not only the desire and aspiration of the Party Committee and the government but also of the people of the ward. In addition to contributing to upgrading the urban infrastructure of the ward, it is also for the safe life of households in this area. The ward acknowledges and shares the wishes of the households to be resettled in an area near their old residence, but based on current conditions, the households need to cooperate and share to consider other options of the city such as receiving compensation to buy land to build houses or resettling in other places further away because the land fund in the Le Mao extended area is currently exhausted.

From the new urban area, looking to the area where 28 households are waiting for road construction to relocate and resettle. This place, if completed, will be a highlight for Vinh Tan ward. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Talking to us, a representative of the Vinh City Construction Investment Project Management Board said: The Le Mao extended road project is urgently completing procedures to submit to the City People's Committee this week. After many years of waiting and speculation, the project has restarted, but its completion sooner or later depends on the resources of the city and province, in addition to the sharing and cooperation of households. Because as far as we know, the land price for tax calculation in this area is currently only about 4 million/m²but the market price is tens of millions of dong/m². The affected households that have to be relocated have an average land area of ​​700-1,000 square meters, the highest being up to 1,200 square meters, so the cost of compensation and relocation is a real challenge.