If completed, not only will the urban appearance change, but the environment, flood control, traffic and the quality of life of millions of people will also be improved.
Many people living along Van Thanh canal have expressed their consensus, ready to hand over the site if compensation is adequate. At the same time, they expect the polluted canal to be replaced by embankments, parks and spacious pedestrian paths.
What people care about most is not keeping the old house, but being treated fairly when they have to sacrifice their own interests for the common good. That is also the key to the success of the program.
Reality shows that many urban embellishment projects in the past have been prolonged because compensation and resettlement work has not created consensus. In some places, houses have been cleared but resettlement areas have not been completed, in some places people have to leave their familiar places to go to a too far-off area, losing livelihoods, children have to transfer schools, and life is turned upside down.
Therefore, people need not only a new apartment, but a new life that is not broken. Workers have jobs, children have convenient education, the elderly receive medical care, and business households have conditions to restore livelihoods.
Another issue that needs to be resolved with a special mechanism is that houses along canals do not have complete legal documents. If regulations are mechanically applied, many households will suffer losses, while they have lived stably for decades.
Therefore, the proposal to classify each group of houses and have appropriate support policies, even for cases that do not meet legal conditions, is a direction that needs to be studied to ensure harmony between law and practice.
Ho Chi Minh City's goal is to build a modern city, where people always believe that they will have a better life every day. People hope and wait for clear canals, clean and beautiful parks and roads along canals shaded by trees.
However, for the program to relocate 40,000 houses on canals and ditches to be successful, there must be active cooperation and responsibility from the people. Cases that have been adequately compensated and supported must be quickly relocated and handed over land for the government to implement construction and urban embellishment projects.
