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People at Cam Mountain in central Vietnam yet to be relocated after dangerous rockslides

People at Cam Mountain in central Vietnam yet to be relocated after dangerous rockslides

Sunday, October 09, 2022, 16:29 GMT+7
People at Cam Mountain in central Vietnam yet to be relocated after dangerous rockslides
This image shows Truong Thi My Hiep (R), a woman living at the foot of Cam Mountain in Phu Cat District, Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnam, speaking about her anxiety about the danger of rockslides in the area. Photo: Lam Thien / Tuoi Tre

Local residents at the foot of a mountain in Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnam, where two rockslides occurred last year, are particularly anxious as they have yet to be relocated to a resettlement area as previously planned by authorities, as shown in a recent field trip by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

These days, people living at the foot of Cam Mountain in the province’s Phu Cat District have remained in the grip of an obsession with the terrible rockslides and mudslides that occurred in the winter of 2021.

One year has passed since local authorities declared a state of emergency for the area, the planned resettlement site for the local people have yet to be made available.

Early winter rains have brought anxiety to hundreds of households in Chanh Thang Hamlet at the foot of Cam Mountain and during the recent typhoon Noru, hundreds of people did not dare to stay at home.

"Not waiting for the government to call for evacuation, people here voluntarily left their house for safe places in elementary schools to avoid dangerous rockslides and mudslides last year,” Dinh Thi Dep, a 58-year-old local woman, told Tuoi Tre.

Dinh Hong, another local, lives in a house around 70 meters from last year’s landslide area, said many heavy rains have hit there recently but the drainage ditch in the area has been filled with soil and rocks.

“As the ditch has been clogged up, rainwater from the mountain will directly flow into residential areas, bringing along soil and rocks and likely causing rockslides like last year,” Hong said worryingly.  

Nearby, Truong Thi My Hiep, Hong's neighbor, said that rainwater had spilled into her garden and she had to pile up bags packed with soil and stones as a wall to prevent the water from flooding her house.

“However, we cannot sleep peacefully at night at all. In constant anxiety, we often stay awake to be ready to cope with any potential danger from possible flooding, rockslides or landslides, as failure to escape in time means death,” Hiep said.

All people living at the foot of Cam Mountain expressed their wish to be relocated to a resettlement place for safety as soon as possible.

“After last year's landslide, the Binh Dinh administration declared a state of emergency over the incident and said they would promptly set up a resettlement area to accommodate people from the dangerous area, but nothing has been done now,” said Vo Thi Ngon, a local.

“Facing potential danger from flooding or rockslides, we have to be ready to run for shelter to save ourselves while our assets are likely to be lost or damaged during the calamities,” she added.

Two landslides hit the area on November 14 and 16 last year after prolonged downpours, with an estimated 25,000 metric tons of soil and rock sliding from the top of the mountain into the residential area with hundreds of households below.

Local authorities had to urgently evacuate hundreds of families to safe places while mud from the landslides covered many houses while rock and soil piled up on some roads and damaged properties. 

The incidents caused no casualties but a great loss to locals’ assets and brought them great anxiety.

On December 27, 2021, the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh Province declared an emergency state over the landslide in the Cam Mountain area and designated the administration of Phu Cat District as the investor of an emergency project to build a 4.5ha resettlement area to relocate 117 households with more than 400 people from the foot of the mountain.

In April 2022, the provincial government asked the Phu Cat authorities to proceed with procedures to execute the resettlement project at a cost of VND32 billion (US$1.34 million) coming from the local public investment capital source and other funding.  

The project has been scheduled to be developed and completed in the 2022-23 period.

Currently, the design for the resettlement area is underway and upon its completion, next steps for the project will be taken, Nguyen Van Hung, chairman of the Phu Cat District administration told Tuoi Tre on Tuesday.

“Work on the project cannot be finished this year, so the resettlement area won’t be available until 2023,” Hung said.

This project requires a large investment from the public investment capital source to set up a long-term residential area, so its development must strictly comply with applicable regulations, Nguyen Tuan Thanh, permanent deputy chairman of the provincial government, told Tuoi Tre.

However, the authorities have determined to give priority to this project so that it can be completed soon to provide safe accommodations, Tuan said.   

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Vinh Tho - Duy Thanh - Lam Thien / Tuoi Tre

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