The clash between relic preservation and locals’ living needs is getting more serious. The latest example is that those in Dong Van old quarter in northern Ha Giang province have lived in dilapidated age-old houses and been deprived of basic comforts for years.

Despite several meetings with the concerned agencies, residents at the Dong Van Old Quarter remain desperate for solutions to cope with the alarmingly serious damage to their age-old houses.

Like those in Duong Lam ancient village in Hanoi, several housesholds in Dong Van quarter recently petitioned to the government to de-recognize their quarter as a national relic.

“We do feel honored, but things aren’t as good as it seems,” lamented Hoang Thi Tan, a resident, pointing to her dilapidated over-100-year-old house.

The walls have sustained wide cracks and leaned considerably. Like several others who own age-old houses, she has to use beams to support her house and cement to fix holes in her tile roof, which is strongly objected to by relic preservation experts.

The five-chambered old house owned by Nguyen Thi Song nearby doesn’t fare any better than Tan’s. The roof is riddled with holes while the wooden floor has become seriously decayed.

Meanwhile, maintenance and repair costs for these old houses are exorbitant, as materials resembling old ones are really hard to come by and few master these building techniques. For instance, fixing “trinh tuong” walls, which are very thick and made from tightly pressed earth, costs even more than building an average brick house.   

“We have had nothing but trouble since the quarter was named a national relic. All we want is to pull the houses down and build new ones, no matter how the officials would respond,” said Song’s son.

Residents aren’t even allowed to build restrooms inside their old houses.

“Our clients keep asking about the restroom, but we have to show them the shed in the garden which serves as the makeshift restroom. We petitioned several times to get the permission to build a restroom, but in vain,” moaned the owner of a restaurant in the quarter.

The provincial authorities promised to conduct a project worth VND50 billion (US$2.4 million) on restoring the old houses, but the project remains on the drawing board so far. Therefore locals had to take matters into their own hand.

Despite severe objections from the district officials, Hoang The Duong was set on building a brick house, which stands between his two time-honored houses built in 1905 and 1947.

“I’m lucky to be able to both retain my old houses and build a new one. Others have to pull down their old houses to have room for the new one,” he said.

The commune’s largest old house was put up for auction and was purchased by an entrepreneur, who turned it into a café.

According to a staff member, it took over three years to build three restrooms for its clients to use, as the local authorities kept suspending the construction. The owner then went ahead with the construction at night and covered the site with canvas. After the construction was completed, the authorities had nothing else to say.