Going is also bad, staying is also not peaceful
On rainy days, anxiety returns to the people of Kang Ky village. Behind many households are mountainsides where landslides have appeared.
Soil and rocks from the mountainside once fell in heavy rains, causing the lives of dozens of H'Mong households to always be in a state of anxiety.
The circulation of storm No. 3 in 2024 once caused heavy damage in this area. Flash floods and landslides killed one person and damaged many houses. More worryingly, the residential area of 73 households continues to be identified as at risk of landslides, directly threatening lives and property.
To bring people out of dangerous areas, in April 2025, the Provincial People's Committee approved the Emergency Resettlement Project for Suoi Lop village, Kang Ky village, Van Chan commune, with a total investment of 43 billion VND.
The resettlement area has an area of nearly 7ha, expected to arrange about 73 land plots for households. Infrastructure is invested synchronously including leveling ground, roads, domestic electricity systems, water supply, wastewater collection and auxiliary works.
According to the initial plan, the project started in August 2025 and was completed in April 2026. However, beyond the expected time limit, the project has not yet been completed.
Records at the resettlement area show that many internal roads are still unfinished, the drainage system is not completed, and domestic electricity has not been connected.
Some locations have been allocated land but the ground is not complete, people have to hire machinery to level it themselves to create a foundation for building houses.
To date, about 13 households have built houses in the resettlement area. But instead of enjoying a stable life in their new homes, these families still have to struggle in deprived infrastructure conditions.
Mr. Thao A Sung, one of the first people to leave his old house in Kang Ky to move to the resettlement area, said: "The back of the house is too heavily landslide, I am very worried for my wife and children. Knowing that the new residence is not complete, but if I just stay, I am not at ease". However, there is no electricity, the road is not complete, and the sewer system is still unfinished, causing no small difficulties for the family's life.
Mr. Sung hopes that the project will be completed soon so that families who have left their old places of residence do not have to continue living in a situation of "going is also bad, staying is also not peaceful".
Difficulties in every way
For households that have not moved, the worry is even greater. Like Mr. Hang A Thinh, who has three young children, every time it rains heavily, the whole family pays attention to every noise behind the house. "For the past two years, every time it rains heavily, we worry about soil and rocks from the mountains overflowing down. The family really wants to move to a new place, but the resettlement area is not complete, so we have to continue to stay" - Mr. Thinh shared.
Through investigation, most families in the relocation area are facing difficulties. Many houses today are traditional wooden houses that have been built for many years. When dismantled for relocation, many components are damaged and almost unusable. To rebuild houses, people have to buy more materials, while the cost of dismantling and transportation is also a large expense.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Luc - Chairman of Van Chan Commune People's Committee - informed that the project is behind schedule due to some difficulties in the construction process. According to Mr. Luc, heavy rain affects construction. In addition, the construction area has a large volume of rock, requiring more processing time, leading to prolonged progress.
Another difficulty is that more than 70 households that have to relocate are poor, near-poor or in difficult circumstances. Most of them use traditional wooden houses, and when dismantled and transported, many damages will arise.
People really want to move to a new place, but their financial capacity is limited. If old houses are dismantled, many materials cannot be reused, this is a very large cost for households" - Mr. Luc assessed.
It is known that Van Chan Commune People's Committee has repeatedly sent documents to departments, branches and Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee requesting consideration of a plan to partially support funding so that people have conditions to move houses to resettlement areas and soon stabilize their lives.
