GIA LAI — The construction of an embankment to prevent landslide along Hội Phú Spring in Pleiku City in the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai has damaged houses and polluted the local environment over the last two years, Voice of Vietnam reported.

Nguyễn Văn Phú’s family has lived on Hùng Vương Street beside Hội Phú Spring for generations. Since 2015 when the project started, several cracks have appeared in the walls of their house. The embankment’s drainage system is higher than Phú’s house, so whenever it rains his house is partly flooded.

Residents in the districts of Hoa Lư, Hội Thương and Hội Phú face the same situation, triggering anxiety and anger.

Moreover, investors have built a dam without setting up a system to discharge wastewater from the centre of Pleiku to the spring.

The project’s management board has admitted that these issues are caused by urban waste water clogging up and polluting wells of more than 20 households in Hội Thương District.

“The ground vibrates whenever they construct the embankment. We dare not stay at home,” said Trần Thị Tâm on Nguyễn Tri Phương Street.

Most of households affected by the project are poor, so they are unable to relocate on their own.

Despite their complaints to city authorities, no compensation has been made in the past two years.

Despite total investment of VNĐ519 billion (US$22.3 million), Hoàng Minh Nghĩa, deputy director of the project management board, said that they could not allocate money to compensate the affected households.

“The project’s investors did not evaluate the impacts of the project on the neighborhood, so there is no funding for compensation. The provincial People’s Committee should be held responsible for allowing it to continue,” he said.

The embankment was intended to improve the environment and living conditions of local residents, but in reality it has made the situation worse. — VNS