The Experts' Housing Area consists of many high-rise buildings located on Hill 79 in Huu Nghi Ward, Hoa Binh City, which was reserved for Soviet experts during the construction of the Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant.
When the Hydropower project is completed, the expert area will be handed over to Hoa Binh province for management. Up to now, the expert area is under the management of Hoa Binh Housing and Construction Development Investment Joint Stock Company.
On February 16, reporters were present at the A23 row of houses, and with the naked eye, they could easily see the serious deterioration. bare walls, cracked stairs, broken corridors pose many potential risks to households living here.
Mr. Dao Van Thuy (67 years old, living on the 2nd floor, stairs 23 - 24 of the A23 building) said that he came here in 1986.
"After decades of use, the apartments have all deteriorated, the upper floors have leaked down to the lower floors, especially the toilet area. Almost every family has to renovate and install additional wastewater pipes, said Mr. Thuy.
According to Mr. Thuy, this area is now home to workers and laborers from all over. Those who were able moved. The people who moved here were mainly low-income workers, newlyweds...
"The house is both dilapidated and cramped, but I don't have money to buy a new house, so I have to stay here despite all the hardships," Mr. Thuy expressed.
Similarly, Ms. Thanh Huong (42 years old, living on the first floor of the A35 building) said: "All families have to renovate before living there. Almost every year, it has to be repaired and covered with wastewater from the top down".
According to Ms. Huong, people arbitrarily expanding and repairing to have more living space such as "tiger cages" to dry clothes and wash dishes makes this place even more dilapidated and shabby.
"After many years of use, people have arbitrarily expanded and encroached, making the house deformed and distorted. The power lines are exposed and rusted, and have not been replaced for many years, so the risk of fire and explosion is very high," said Ms. Huong.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Dinh Anh Hoang - Chairman of Huu Nghi Ward People's Committee - said: "The expert area was built about 40 years ago. After many years of use, some buildings on Hill 79 in the expert area have been abandoned, and residential areas have all seriously degraded. However, the Specialist housing area is not currently subject to emergency relocation".
According to Mr. Hoang, the space in front of each lot of houses has also been encroached upon and expanded to houses and parking lots. The devastation caused by time has seriously degraded the Specialist area. Public infrastructure was almost completely damaged.
Some images recorded by the reporter:
