Residents of An Quang apartment building in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City have endured persistent flooding and a foul odor due to an unrepaired sewer problem for nearly a year.

Even on the third floor of the apartment building, residents can still smell the unpleasant odor.

The pitch-dark drainage water has spread on the routes in blocks D, E, and F, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes. 

As a result, residents on the ground floor have to regularly sweep the stagnant water to reduce flooding and mosquitoes.

Many households have also poured gravel in front of their apartments or placed bags of sand and debris along the roads surrounding their apartment building to make their travel more convenient.

The broken sewers have also affected locals’ business activities.

Tran Trinh, 58, lives and sells bun thit nuong (rice vermicelli topped with grilled pork) at block D of An Quang apartment building, said she had suspended her business for half a year, explaining that no customer wanted to eat on the spot due to the disgusting odor of the drainage water.

Similarly, Huynh Huu Hieu, 37, another resident at the apartment building, said his flat is located at the corner of the routes in the building, where the drainage water flows.

He has spent over VND20 million (US$835.6) buying plastic sheets and graval to cover the ground in a bid to deal with the flooding.

However, the dirty water still runs into his house, so he has to purchase a pump to send the drainage water into other adjacent sewers.

“I wish the sewers in my apartment building will be repaired soon to ease residents’ hardship,” Hieu said.

Ngo Thi Viet Binh, chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Ward 9 in District 10, where An Quang apartment building is located, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the sewer system in the apartment building has been deteriorating.

The district has reviewed and held a tender to seek contractors for the sewer repair.

“An Quang apartment building is old [as it was built in 1968] and [the ward] has no funds for the maintenance and repair [of its facilities]. Its operation depends on the city’s budget," Binh said.

“The District 10 urban management division is taking charge of the tender to repair [the sewer system] and the ward will join hands with the division to do the job."

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