Settling down in new apartments
At the Doi Canal North bank renovation project, hundreds of households have begun to stabilize their lives in resettlement areas. Among the 689 registered cases, 243 households are currently arranged to live in apartments on Pham The Hien, Ba Dinh and Ho Hoc Lam streets.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (65 years old, Chanh Hung ward) is one of the first people to move to a new residence. Previously, her family of 10 lived in a house of about 60m2 on Nguyen Duy street, built more than 30 years ago. Although seriously degraded, repairs are almost impossible due to planning issues.
When we were informed of the 4.3 billion VND compensation, my family immediately agreed. My siblings and I shared a part to stabilize our lives, and I chose to buy a resettlement apartment for convenient living and working" - Ms. Loan shared.
Her new apartment in an apartment building on Pham The Hien street is more than 60m2 wide, including two bedrooms, located right on the street front with many amenities.
The price of 2.1 billion VND is reasonable. The most important thing is that the living environment is cleaner and safer than before," she said.
Similarly, at the Xuyen Tam canal renovation project, many households have also started a new life. Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai (75 years old, An Nhon ward) could not hide her joy when receiving a 70m2 resettlement apartment at Khang Gia apartment building.
“Previously, my family lived for nearly 30 years in a small, dilapidated house in an alley next to Xuyen Tam canal. Now having a spacious and quiet place to live, I am very satisfied,” Ms. Mai said. With more than 2 billion VND in compensation, Ms. Mai's family bought an apartment for 1.4 billion VND.
Many resettlement options, but not synchronized
According to Mr. Tran Quang Lam - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, for the Xuyen Tam canal project, there are currently 162 cases of self-housing, 275 cases of choosing social housing and 642 cases registering to receive land plots or apartments.
The resettlement housing fund is distributed in many areas such as: Apartment building No. 4 Phan Chu Trinh; apartment building 3A (Thu Duc); My Kim apartment building (Thu Duc); apartment building R6 (Thu Duc); Nguyen Kim B building; An Suong apartment building (District 12); Zone B Nguyen Kim Apartment Building (Saigon Real Estate Corporation Limited Liability Company); Tan Thuan residential area; Nhat Thanh residential area; Binh Hoa residential area; Binh Chieu residential area; resettlement area No. 3 - Rach Chiec South area...
However, reality shows that many resettlement housing projects are still not completed, affecting the progress of relocation. Typically, the social housing project at No. 4 Phan Chu Trinh (Binh Thanh ward) is being built with a scale of 864 apartments, area from 40 - 76m2, total investment of more than 997 billion VND. It is expected that by the end of 2027, the project will be completed.
While waiting, local authorities such as Binh Loi Trung, Gia Dinh, Binh Thanh must flexibly arrange temporary accommodation or provide financial support for people to find accommodation themselves.
Dr. Tran Quang Thang - Director of the Institute of Economics and Management of Ho Chi Minh City - said that relocation and resettlement for households along canals and ditches is not only a story of housing but also related to livelihoods, social infrastructure and people's ability to adapt to the new living environment.
Reality shows that many households have had a more stable life when moving into apartments, with better sanitation, security and amenities. However, the slow and unsynchronized progress of resettlement projects is a "bottleneck" that needs to be removed soon.
To ensure that canal and ditch renovation projects achieve sustainable efficiency, Mr. Tran Quang Thang said that Ho Chi Minh City needs to accelerate the construction of resettlement housing funds, ensuring that people have stable housing before relocation. Then, the journey of "leaving canals and ditches" will truly become a step towards a better new life for urban residents.
