The demand for social housing is very high.
According to statistics, in 2020, Dung Quat Economic Zone and Quang Ngai Industrial Parks had over 33,000 workers, which increased to 62,000 workers by September 2024.
However, a challenge is that the housing system for workers is hardly of interest to employers. In Dung Quat Economic Zone (Binh Son District) or VSIP Quang Ngai Industrial Park and Tinh Phong Industrial Park (Son Tinh District), there are tens of thousands of workers, but most of them have to rent houses at expensive prices, with cramped and damp rooms. Many workers choose to go to work in the morning and return home in the afternoon, a long distance.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Trinh Minh Tam (36 years old), residing in Tinh Giang commune, Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai province, said that after many years of working in Ho Chi Minh City, he "left the city to return to the countryside" and applied to work as a worker in Dung Quat Economic Zone with a salary of about 10 million VND/month (not including overtime). Although working in the countryside is close to relatives and family, the distance from home to the company, round trip is about 70km/day, so riding a motorbike is very tiring.
In Tinh Phong commune, there are many boarding houses for workers working in VSIP Industrial Park and Tinh Phong Industrial Park to rent. Many rooms are just big enough for a mattress, a gas stove and a bathroom, but the rental price ranges from 800,000 to 1,500,000 VND/room.
Mr. Dinh Van Theo - residing in Son Ky commune, Son Ha district, Quang Ngai province - said that he and his wife have been working as workers in VSIP Industrial Park for 5 years. "The modest salary of the couple is only enough to raise children and cover daily expenses. Therefore, almost all workers dream of having social housing to buy at preferential prices" - Mr. Theo confided.
Investors are not interested
Quang Ngai currently has no social housing for workers and laborers. Most of the housing areas for workers and laborers in economic zones and industrial parks in Quang Ngai are invested in and built by enterprises to provide accommodation for workers to serve the production and business activities of the enterprises. No enterprises have built houses for workers to rent or buy.
Quang Ngai has planned to implement the Project "Investing in building at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income people and industrial park workers in the period of 2021-2030".
In 2024, in Quang Ngai province, the Provincial People's Committee approved Plan No. 126/KH-UBND. Accordingly, in 2024, Quang Ngai province must complete the target of implementing investment in the construction of 500 social housing apartments. However, up to now, no social housing project has been approved by the competent authority for investment policy. Therefore, Quang Ngai is likely to fail to complete the target registered with the Central Government.
Faced with the above situation, in September 2024, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Giang - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province - requested the Department of Construction to immediately assess the implementation of the Project "Investing in the construction of at least 1 million social housing apartments for low-income people and industrial park workers in the period of 2021-2030". Propose specific solutions to ensure feasibility in implementing the completion of the Social Housing Development Plan in the province according to the targets assigned by the Central Government, and report to the Provincial People's Committee in September 2024.
Speaking to reporters, a representative of the Department of Construction of Quang Ngai province said that the Department of Construction is currently developing a social housing development plan, preparing to submit it to the Director of the Department of Construction for approval next week, after which there will be a direction in calling for investors to build social housing. "For a long time, Quang Ngai has not had any investors investing in social housing construction. In my opinion, the investment profit in social housing is low, so it is difficult to attract investors" - a representative of the Department of Construction confided.
