Life is turned upside down
From dawn to late at night, convoys of tanker trucks and heavy-duty tractor trucks lined up to enter and exit the concrete mixing station located in the middle of a residential area on Nguyen Khoa Chiem street (An Cuu ward, Hue city), disrupting people's lives.
Attached to this area for more than 50 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet (68 years old) said that her family has been heavily affected for a long time. Talking to reporters, she brought out a pile of thick dossiers including "Requests", "Urgent Requests", "Sendings for Help", along with "Working Minutes", "Commitments" related to the concrete mixing station next to her house.
“Here, our people are very upset. Trucks carrying sand, gravel and tanker trucks carrying fresh concrete to the construction site operate at irregular hours. They leave from 4-5 am. And at night, until 0 am, even 1-2 am, they still run rumbling, unable to sleep peacefully,” Ms. Tuyet said.
Her house is located at the beginning of alley 88 Nguyen Khoa Chiem, about 150m from the mixing station. This distance is close enough for every time a car passes by, the floor shakes slightly, dust follows the wind into the house. Even when the door is closed, fine dust still covers tables, chairs, food, and clothes.
I have sent petitions for 7-8 years now, from the old ward, city, province, and in 2023 I sent a petition to the Central Government. After sending the petition, the government invited me to work, there was a representative of Thua Thien - Hue Concrete and Construction Joint Stock Company (the unit managing the mixing station). They promised to relocate, commit, but year after year they kept making empty promises," Ms. Tuyet recounted.
Hidden consequences
Real-world records in March 2026 show that many tractor trucks and tanker trucks continuously enter and exit the mixing station to serve production.
Like the afternoon of March 18, at 2:50 PM, a tractor-trailer with license plate 75RM 000.xx from the direction of Ngu Binh street turned into alley 88 Nguyen Khoa Chiem, blocking the middle of the road, causing vehicles to stop and wait. At 3:01 PM, the vehicle left the station, continuing to cause congestion.
At 3:51 PM, tractor-trailer BKS 75H - 0020. xx pulled trailer 75RM 000.xx into the station. At 4:00 PM, tanker truck BKS 75CD 000.xx from Vo Van Kiet street turned into the alley while tractor-trailer 75H - 0020. xx came out. Due to the narrow road, the tanker truck had to stop in the middle of the road, steering to yield. Then continued to block the way, causing prolonged traffic jams. From 4:26 PM to 4:45 PM, many tanker trucks continued to return to the station on peak hours, even though the road had a sign prohibiting trucks from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
At 8:03 am on March 19, a tractor-trailer with license plate 75H - 0020. xx pulling trailer 75RM 000.xx entered Nguyen Khoa Chiem street at the right time when students were gathering. The bulky vehicle blocked the middle of the road, causing the traffic flow to be "frozen" from 8:04 am until about 8:14 am to be cleared, causing prolonged congestion right in front of the school gate.
Notably, all tractor-trailers and most tanker trucks entering and leaving the 84/6 Nguyen Khoa Chiem concrete mixing station must travel through Lang Cu Kinh Te bridge, a bridge with a load limit sign of 13 tons and showing signs of degradation.
The concrete mixing station at 84/6 Nguyen Khoa Chiem belongs to Thua Thien - Hue Concrete and Construction Joint Stock Company, with an area of 6,311.4m2. According to Decision 1930/QD-UBND dated July 17, 2024 of Thua Thien - Hue Provincial People's Committee (old), the land lease term is until December 31, 2024. However, up to now, the mixing station is still operating rampantly.
Inside the station, recorded at 8:28 am on March 19, there were at least 8 tanker trucks waiting to receive concrete, and two tractor trucks pouring materials. The silo and conveyor belt system operated continuously.
Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Xuan - Principal of Ngu Binh Elementary School, said: "Now that students are home from school, there are many heavy-duty vehicles such as tractor trucks and tanker trucks, causing traffic jams, which is very dangerous. I want to propose that these vehicles not go during school hours and after school hours. Ensure safety for students and people living on both sides of the road.
According to the minutes of the working session on December 3, 2024, the old An Tay Ward People's Committee requested the enterprise to relocate the station in 2025. By September 27, 2025, the enterprise committed to announce the relocation roadmap no later than the end of March 2026. However, to date, people have not received specific information, while the station is still operating at a high frequency.
According to a representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hue City, since implementing the two-level government model, the management, licensing, and extension of land lease annually to make a mixing station of Thua Thien - Hue Concrete and Construction Joint Stock Company has been assigned to the local government, specifically the People's Committee of An Cuu ward.
However, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of An Cuu Ward People's Committee said that up to now, the unit has not grasped whether the mixing station has expired its operating license or not. Thus, it is likely that in the near future, the situation of vehicles entering and leaving will continue, putting pressure on infrastructure and the living environment of people.
