Temporary embankment holds, billion-dollar project is still "inactive"
In Hoa Ninh commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province, landslides have become a nightmare for many years. The river water kept moving deep into the shore, in some places "swallowing" dozens of meters of soil, pushing dozens of households into a situation of emergency evacuation, changing their livelihoods for a long time. "Every time it rains, the whole family is filled with fear every time the water is big, not knowing if the soil can still be kept" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan - a resident living along the river in Hoa Ninh - shared with a voice full of anxiety.
In early 2025, a ray of hope was born when the locality mobilized more than 450 million VND to build a temporary embankment section 180m long. This is considered an urgent solution to help people " sustain" through the flood season. However, the local government also admitted that this is only an immediate response solution, unable to ensure long-term safety for the people.
Not only Hoa Ninh, Tan Long Hoi commune, Mang Thit district also continuously suffered from terrible landslides. In May 2025 alone, two major landslides "swallowed" more than 40m of the Mang River dike, even though this is a section of the dike that was built quite solidly. The most direct consequence is the household of Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, who has just "poured" nearly 500 million VND to release pangasius. Now, the dike is broken close to the fish pond, the white whirlpools are erasing, causing Mr. Hong to sit restlessly, facing the risk of losing everything for the entire crop. The local government has urgently repaired the problem, expected to be completed in June 2025 with a budget of about 400 million VND. These efforts, although timely, are just a "fire-fighting" measure, as the landslide situation is still complicated.
However, not every place is lucky enough to handle it quickly. A typical example is the An Binh Commune Anti-Landslide Project (Long Ho District), with a scale of up to 257 billion VND. Although planned from the beginning of 2025, the project has not yet been able to be implemented due to land clearance problems. More than 30 households have not yet agreed with the compensation plan, while the river continues to erode, threatening eco-tourism areas and coastal houses. "We look forward to every project implementation day to be able to work with peace of mind, but we don't know how long we can keep the land," Mr. Le Van Tam, a resident of An Binh, worried.
People cling to the posts with bamboo and sandbags
In Tra Vinh, the landslide situation is also complicated. A mixed news is that the embankment project in the Tra Cu river embankment has officially started construction since the beginning of June 2025 with a budget of over 6 billion VND. This is a project that people have been waiting for for a long time, carrying the hope of a safer life. However, that joy was mixed with anxiety. This new embankment section is only nearly 300m long, while many other riverbanks still have a high risk of landslides. People are happy that embankments have been built, but they cannot help but worry about the remaining sections that have not been resolved.
On the coast of Duyen Hai, Tra Vinh province, landslides also occurred seriously. The fierce waves continuously "mental" the shore, sweeping away each piece of land and tree and threatening the homes of coastal residents. Although the province has established a project to build a solid embankment, due to exceeding the local budget capacity, it is still proposing the Central Government to support capital.
In the immediate future, the government has arranged 57 households to go to the resettlement area of Ho Thung hamlet, Dong Hai commune - giving up the land eroded by the sea to keep their lives and property safe. The eroded bank is temporarily protected with bamboo stakes, sandbags, and canopy to protect the soil. However, the people here are still unable to rest assured, when the livelihood of the poor is affected, and it is not known when the embankment project will be implemented.
The general situation in both Vinh Long and Tra Vinh shows that, despite efforts from the community and the government, many key projects are still "frozen" due to waiting for capital or land clearance problems. While waiting, people can only rely on temporary deposits, sacks of sand, and secretly hope for peace in the sky and the peace of the river to keep their roofs, fish ponds and long-term livelihoods.
