Workers wade through water to get to work
Recently, when there was prolonged heavy rain, some areas in Giao Long Industrial Park (Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre Province) were flooded. The water drained from the sewers was dirty, affecting the health and mobility of workers.
As one of hundreds of victims of flooding that caused his motorbike to stall, Mr. Le Van Khanh (from Ben Tre province, working as a laborer for a company in Giao Long Industrial Park) said that when it rained for more than 1 hour, some areas were flooded, affecting the workers' travel, especially on days when the flood was deep, when he had just finished work and was driving his motorbike home, he passed a deeply flooded road, causing his motorbike to stall.
“For many years now, right on the main road leading to Giao Long Industrial Park, every time it rains, it floods, affecting workers' work and business production,” said Mr. Khanh.
According to Mr. Khanh, there were times when it rained and flooded Giao Long Industrial Park, to get to work, he had to walk and wade through water to get to work. Ms. Mai Hong Thuy (a worker at a company in Giao Long Industrial Park, Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province) shared that there were days when it rained early in the morning and went to work but was also flooded, wading through water until her clothes were soaked but she still had to go to work. Her car broke down, the engine died and she had to walk, and if it rained and the water flooded and she was late, her attendance fee was also deducted. Therefore, every time she went to work or finished work and saw signs of heavy rain, she was afraid of flooding.
Ms. Thuy suggested that the functional sector of Ben Tre province should promptly resolve the above flooding problem to create convenient travel conditions for workers when coming to work at the company in Giao Long Industrial Park.
What is the solution for the authorities?
Mr. Le Van Nhien - Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks of Ben Tre province - said that Giao Long Industrial Park is located in the inner fields, not adjacent to a large river. In the past, due to limited funding, the investment in building this industrial park was at the same elevation as National Highway 57B, but when the above National Highway was upgraded, the elevation of Giao Long Industrial Park is now lower than National Highway 57B.
In addition, the canals in the fields were dredged but due to sedimentation. In addition, heavy rain coincided with a power outage for about 4 hours, so the water could not be drained in time, causing flooding here.
According to Mr. Nhien, to fundamentally solve the problem of flooding in Giao Long Industrial Park, it is necessary to improve the infrastructure in this industrial park, and businesses must also improve. Therefore, to solve this problem, it takes time and funding to implement.
The Head of the Ben Tre Province Industrial Zones Management Board said that the dredging of the internal canals has been basically completed. Currently, the flooding problem is only resolved temporarily to limit the impact on the movement of workers and the operations of enterprises.
