PHÚ YÊN (VNS) — The project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1 in Đông Hòa District of this central province has damaged thousands of houses here, the residents and local authority have complained.

Võ Đình Tiến, vice chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, said the project, which was completed seven months ago, was still having a serious impact on local living conditions.

Tiến said some 1,800 households around the project area had petitioned the local authority for relief, complaining that their houses were developing cracks and showing signs of subsidence.

The petitioners said they had asked the project investor for an explanation and compensation when the project was still under construction but had received no reply even seven months after the completion of the project.

Nguyễn Thị Thu, whose house had sustained a 5m crack in the concrete ceiling, said she still remembered the conditions she suffered as the construction work took place nearby.

“My house would shake and the furniture would topple over throughout the house whenever a roller passed by. Every day, four or five rounds would be made with the rollers. It was like a series of earthquakes,” Thu said.

Another local resident, Nguyễn Kim Ngọc, said his house suffered the same annoyance, pointing out several cracks in the walls.

Both residents are among the locals demanding compensation.

The local official said the district’s People’s Committee had also sent three reports to the provincial People’s Committee and Department of Transport, briefing them on the situation, but they had received no response other than an order to await the approval of the Transport Ministry.

Nguyễn Thành Trí, director of the Phú Yên Department of Transport, revealed they had received a reply from the investor – Thăng Long Project Management Unit – saying the company had provided compensation worth VNĐ5 billion (US$224,000) to a total of 990 households, noting that this was the limit of their insurance allowance.

Currently, the investor said, the company had no further financial sources to provide additional compensation, adding that many of the 1,800 households were not located within the project’s planned clearance zone.

However, a representative from the investor, Nguyễn Hoàng Khánh, said a separate petition had been presented to the government, seeking a financial supplement to provide the additional compensation. — VNS