In the mid -May days, the sun just had just come up after the first rain, along the temporary road leading to the highway, temporary houses with corrugated iron, plastic tarpaulin puffed up the hillside, close to the acacia forest, showing the difference between the sky and earth.
That is the temporary shelter of dozens of households that have handed over the site since the beginning of March 2025.
In a small shack surrounded by tarpaulins on all sides, Mr. Nong Van Tram (Coong village, Hung Son commune) struggled to hold back tarpaulins that were skewed after the recent rain, looking up at the black clouds still hanging on the top of the mountain.
Mr. Tram confided: "At the beginning of March, we received a notice of site clearance, in the middle of the month we demolished the house and moved to temporary housing.
It was thought that the resettlement area would be started immediately, but who would have thought that there would be no machinery until now? When it rains, water floods into the hut, and I can't sleep well. The temporary shelter is a hundred-favorite inconvenience, from food and accommodation to living, but we are still willing to give up our house for the project to be implemented".
Sharing the same concerns, the three grandmothers and grandchildren of Mrs. Loc Thi Sen (Hung Son commune) have these days been worried in the temporary hut.
Mrs. Sen sighed: "The land has been handed over, the house has been demolished, now we have built a tent next to the stream to live in. The weather is still weather-resistant, but if the flood comes, the biggest concern is landslides. We don't know where to turn."
The woman nearly 70 years old just hopes that the government will soon arrange a resettlement area so that people can build a new house, have a new place to live, and feel secure in stabilizing their lives.
However, contrary to those expectations, the entire interspersed resettlement plan and the Pac Luong concentrated resettlement area (De Tham commune) are still... on paper.
According to the reporter's records in mid-May 2025, the land planned for resettlement is still just a vast rice field, with no signs of construction.
Talking to reporters of Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Ma Chi Mac - Chairman of Hung Son Commune People's Committee - said that in the area, one household registered for resettlement in Pac Luong area, the rest chose the interspersed resettlement option. However, both options are currently stalled.
"Not only has Pac Luong area not been implemented, but the conversion of land use purposes for interspersed resettlement is also slow due to procedural problems" - Mr. Mac informed.
Previously, on April 15, the People's Committee of Lang Son province approved the plan to select a contractor to implement the Pac Luong residential area project (Trang Dinh district), serving resettlement for households giving up land for the construction of the Dong Dang - Tra Linh expressway phase 1, under the form of public-private partnership (PPP).
The project belongs to the Sub-project for site clearance in Trang Dinh district, with a total value of more than 53.6 billion VND, using state budget capital. It is expected to be implemented in the second quarter of 2025, with an implementation period of 6 months.
However, the project has not shown any signs of slowing down, causing dozens of households to continue to worry amid the upcoming rainy season.
The Dong Dang - Tra Linh Expressway project is 93.3km long with a total investment of VND 14,331 billion in phase 1. Phase 2 is expected to be implemented in September this year, bringing the total investment capital to nearly VND24,000 billion.
