The water pumping station is covered with grass at the Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đạt

HÒA BÌNH — More than 10 years after moving to a new resettlement area, dozens of households in Giếng Xạ Village, Cư Yên Commune, Lương Sơn District still live with a severe lack of clean water, which seriously affects their daily life.

The area also does not have a sewage system, which leads to water pollution.

To have drinking water, many people have had to find different ways, but it is only a temporary measure.

The Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area was built in 2011 following Decision No. 2343/QĐ-UBND of Hòa Bình Province.

The resettlement area is for households which had to move for the Cửu Long ecological and service urban area project.

However, until now, the people here have faced many difficulties because the infrastructure system in the resettlement area was not implemented as promised.

Local people have sent letters and petitions, but the Lương Sơn District People’s Committee and concerned units have not resolved the problems.

Observations by a Vietnam News Agency correspondent showed that the resettlement area reeks of the bad smell of sewage.

The lighting system is rusted, while clean water and a wastewater treatment system are not available.

Hoàng Thị Lý, a resident, said: “We thought we would have a better life in the new resettlement area, but in fact, we have fallen into misery. We have saved money for many years to build a house, but now have no water source, so we had to take water from the ponds nearby."

Lý’s house has been built since last year, but she cannot complete it because of the water shortage.

Local people said that before starting construction work on the resettlement area, the Lương Sơn District People’s Committee said that the resettlement area would have enough clean water from the Đà River.

They also promised that the resettlement area would have an 800sq.m park. Other infrastructure will be built synchronously so that the new neighborhood would be better than the old one.

But, until now, these plans have not been fulfilled.

Bạch Văn Lục, another resident, said that instead of having clean water from the Đà River as promised by local authorities, a water pumping station was built.

The station included a drilled well, a pump to suck water from the well and two stainless steel water tanks placed about 3m above the ground to supply clean water to people in the Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area.

However, the water pumping station now is covered by grass. Local residents have never had clean water from it.

Lục said that water from the well was actually unusable because it was heavily polluted. It is blue with an unusual fishy smell.

His family had to install water pipes themselves to take water from Tân Vinh Commune, Lương Sơn District to use.

In addition to clean water, the resettlement area has another problem. Waste water is not discharged and treated, so it stagnates all year round with a bad smell.

The electricity system here is also incomplete.

The distance between electric poles is uneven. Some poles tilt unsafely. There are even electric poles in front of people's houses.

The light bulbs were installed since the resettlement site was formed but have never been lit.

There are electric lines in the area, but all households have to pay money themselves to connect with the main electricity system.

Hoàng Tùng, acting chairman of the Cư Yên Commune People's Committee, said that people’s lives in the Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area face many difficulties.

From 2012-13, district leaders came, promised to complete the work, but so far it is still not finished.

Many times in voters’ meetings, the commune has requesting the district People's Committee to have solutions to the shortcomings and meet the people's aspirations.

Solutions

Nguyễn Tiến Dũng, head of the Lương Sơn District Urban Management Division, said that the problems were due to the system's design.

The district People's Committee is planning a new residential area located next to the Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area.

When building the new one, they will also complete the infrastructure system in Giếng Xạ Village.

Deputy Chairman of the Lương Sơn District People's Committee Nguyễn Anh Đức said that after receiving the people’s comments, the district founded a working group including experts from the Urban Management Division, Economy Division, Construction Projects Management Board, Cư Yên Commune People's Committee, Hòa Bình Clean Water Company, and Lương Sơn Branch Electricity Company.

The experts checked and reviewed the current status of the Giếng Xạ Village resettlement area.

The Hòa Bình Clean Water Company is assigned to survey the area, urgently connect water from the Lương Sơn Clean Water Plant to Cư Yên Commune to serve the people.

They assigned the Lương Sơn Branch Electricity Company to ensure the lighting system.

The Construction Projects Management Board will coordinate with the Urban Management Division to review infrastructure, the drainage system, and the clean water system. — VNS