Summer, hot and stuffy rooms
In early June, the sun burned the spontaneous boarding houses near the industrial parks in Hoa Binh. The outside temperature reached 39 - 40 degrees Celsius, while inside the cramped rooms, the corrugated iron roofs sometimes exceeded 45 degrees Celsius - where thousands of workers were struggling to make a living in the suffocating heat.
Every afternoon after work, the small alley leading to the boarding house of Group 9 (Thinh Lang Ward, Hoa Binh City) welcomes dozens of workers. They returned home after 10 hours of standing on the bench.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang (32 years old, from Dien Chau, Nghe An), a garment worker, rents a room in a 12m2 room with her husband and 2-year-old daughter. The corrugated iron roof is close to the head, inside are just a double bed and a kitchen shelf. The temperature in the midday room was up to more than 45 degrees Celsius.
"Every time I have a fever, I worry. When opened, the dust from the construction site hit, and when closed, it suffocated. When my child couldn't sleep at night, I sat there holding a fan for him," she said.
With a salary of nearly 6 million VND/month, she spends more than 1.5 million VND on rent, electricity and water - nearly 1/4 of her income. The room does not have its own meter, the electricity price is 3,800 VND/kWh, the water is divided by the person.
"The couple wants to install air conditioners to keep their children cool, but there are no economic conditions, so they have to work hard to use manual methods such as regularly cleaning the house and buying more ice to cool the room" - Ms. Hang confided.
In another boarding house near Luong Son Industrial Park, Mr. Tran Van Phong (28 years old, from Yen Thuy, Hoa Binh, a mechanical worker), is sitting in a hurry eating a bowl of instant noodles. "I can't sleep without any talent. The corrugated iron walls retain heat, the fans only blow hot air. We have to sleep on the mat with the spearhead" - Mr. Phong shared.
Many boarding houses are unsafe for fire and explosion
According to the reporter's records, most of the boarding houses are spontaneous, so there are few fire extinguishers, no escape systems, and tangled electric wires. Each room uses an electric rice cooker, mini gas stove, fan and refrigerator, but there is only one plug.
Ms. Le Thi Thao (29 years old, from Thanh Hoa) said: "Most workers use mini gas stoves, the house is cramped, so the risk of fire and explosion is very high. In addition, the path between the rows of houses is only about 80cm wide, making it difficult for fire trucks to access. The boarding house owners did not equip any fire prevention equipment, nor did they announce or provide safety training.
Talking to PV of Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Phuong Dong - Chairman of the Trade Union of Industrial Parks of Hoa Binh province - acknowledged: "Currently, more than 70% of workers are renting accommodation in spontaneous areas. These areas are almost uncontrolled in terms of fire prevention and fighting safety. The union has made many recommendations, but because they are scattered between residential areas, it is difficult to check and handle them thoroughly". According to Mr. Dong, the demand for housing for workers is very high, but so far no social housing project has been put into operation.
