Decades of living in a humid house
For more than 20 years (since 2004), dozens of households in Quang Trung quarter, Dong Huong ward, Thanh Hoa city have had to live in extremely difficult conditions in old, dilapidated houses that cannot be rebuilt or repaired.
According to research, the reason for this situation is that households are in the planning of the new urban area project North of Le Loi Boulevard, Thanh Hoa City. This project was approved by the Provincial People's Committee for investment in Binh Minh Construction Materials Construction and Production Company Limited more than 20 years ago.
In September 2004, the project was approved for investment with a total planning area of over 47 hectares. The number of affected households is up to 445 households, of which 292 households have agricultural land, 84 households have residential land and 69 households have cemeteries.
The project is implemented in the form of using land funds to create capital (exchanging land for infrastructure) to build infrastructure for Tay Bac Ga Industrial Park, Thanh Hoa City. However, in the land allocation decision, there is no plan to arrange resettlement land. At that time, Thanh Hoa City is responsible for site clearance and land allocation to the investor to implement the project.
After many years of implementation, by 2012, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province had added 3,400 m2 of land (equivalent to 35 lots) to resettle a number of households affected by the project. Then, in 2021, the number of resettlement lots continued to be adjusted, increasing to 210 lots.
Despite two adjustments, up to now, the authorities have not yet arranged resettlement land for 86 affected households (in Quang Trung quarter, Dong Huong ward), causing households to fall into a situation of "not being able to go, not being able to stay".
Hopefully it will be resolved soon
Sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, many households in Quang Trung neighborhood said that they have worked with the authorities many times and proposed solutions, but so far there has been no way to handle the matter completely. This makes people's lives increasingly difficult because their houses have deteriorated over time.
Ms. Le Thi Lo (77 years old, residing in Quang Trung quarter, Dong Huong ward) expressed concern that for decades, households in the quarter have had to live in old houses that could not be rebuilt or repaired.
"Because the neighborhood is lower than the surrounding area, every time it rains, stagnant water everywhere causes flooded roads and a humid environment. The road in the alley is just a temporary walkway. We live in the heart of the city, even this location is considered prime land, but in reality, we have been suffering a miserable life for more than 20 years" - Ms. Lo shared.
Mr. Le Nguyen Hong (75 years old, living on Quang Trung Street) said that his family's house was built in 1988, and has been under construction for nearly 40 years, and the house has seriously degraded but cannot be rebuilt or repaired because it is part of the project planning area.
"I have lived 75 years of my life on the land left by my father. However, when my old age was approaching, I had to live in a dilapidated, cramped house for more than 20 years. Sometimes I really felt very upset, but didn't know what to do. We just hope that Thanh Hoa province and the authorities will soon come up with a solution so that people have stable housing and settle down and make a living" - Mr. Hong expressed.
According to the representative of the Thanh Hoa City People's Committee, for the new urban area project North of Le Loi Boulevard, up to now, the investor has basically completed the technical infrastructure system with about 80% of the workload. The investor has also divided and sold the land many years ago.
Currently, there are still more than 30,000 m2 of land that have not been cleared, involving 86 affected households. The main reason is that when approving the initial investment policy, the province did not arrange resettlement land for households.
After that, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province adjusted the planning twice in 2012 and 2021 to supplement resettlement land, assigning it to investors for implementation. However, during the consultation process, the authorities determined that the allocation of resettlement land must be done by the State, not by the investor. This has caused the incident to drag on without being completely resolved.
