Prolonged fear of landslides
In the last days of July, many landslide points in Vinh Xuan commune, Vinh Long province continued to develop complicatedly, threatening houses, infrastructure works and the lives of many households living along rivers and canals.
Standing in front of the deeply hollowed-out land right in front of his house, Mr. Tran Quang Tien (56 years old, residing in Ong Lanh hamlet) is still worried as he witnesses the bank edge continuing to subside, gradually moving into his family's living area every day.
Mr. Tien said that about a month ago, only a small crack appeared in this area running along the edge of the wall. After that, the ground continuously subsided, and pieces of land drifted into the water and formed landslide points as they are now.
According to Mr. Tien, more than 20 years ago, the family spent more than 40 million VND to build a dyke to retain land, protect walkways and limit landslides. However, in recent years, the flow has changed, causing the dyke base to be eroded, and the project is gradually losing its effectiveness.
My family has a 5-year-old child, so every night I worry. I just hope that functional agencies will soon have solutions so that people can feel secure in living, because seeing the land continuing to crack and subside like this, everyone is uneasy," Mr. Tien shared.
Not only Mr. Tien's family, many households along the Ba Nghe canal and La Ghi canal also live in a state of anxiety as landslide points appear more and more, in some places they have penetrated deep into the dyke and close to the edge of people's houses.
Mr. Tam Hai, a resident of Vinh Xuan commune, said that what worries people is that the landslide point in front of the Vinh Long Provincial Party Committee's Traditional House has been declared an emergency situation since 2024 but has not yet been deployed for handling.
Vinh Long Provincial Party Committee Traditional House is a red address for revolutionary tradition education. Prolonged landslides not only threaten the project but also affect the sightseeing and study of officials, students and people," Mr. Hai added.
Recommendations to remove obstacles
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Pham Xuan Tai - Head of the Economic Department of Vinh Xuan commune - said that the whole commune has recorded 14 landslide locations with a total length of about 368m. Among them, 1 point was declared an emergency situation and 8 new points arose in July 2026.
According to Mr. Tai, the locality has implemented the "4 on-site" motto, installed warning signs, cut off traffic in dangerous areas and proactively handled some locations. However, many serious landslide points still exceed the budget balancing capacity of the commune.
The Commune People's Committee has requested the Department of Finance to consider and submit to the Provincial People's Committee to support about 904 million VND to overcome two serious landslide points in front of people's houses, contributing to ensuring the safety of people's lives and property," Mr. Tai added.
Mr. Le Quang Rang - Deputy Director of Vinh Long Department of Agriculture and Environment - said that the Department has reviewed the current situation, summarized the report of Vinh Xuan Commune People's Committee and advised the Provincial People's Committee on solutions to handle landslide points at high risk.
According to Mr. Rang, the landslide treatment project on the La Ghi canal in front of the Provincial Party Committee's Traditional House has been approved for a total cost of more than 12 billion VND. However, the project has not yet been implemented due to the need to update dossiers according to new regulations and capital has not been allocated.
The Department of Agriculture and Environment has proposed to the Provincial People's Committee to direct relevant units to urgently complete investment procedures and soon allocate capital to implement landslide remediation projects.
It is proposed that the Provincial People's Committee soon remove obstacles in procedures and capital sources to implement the project to overcome the landslide of the La Ghì canal, and at the same time support the handling of serious landslide points," Mr. Rang added.
