Lesson 1: Hardships experienced

Joining hands and hearts to overcome difficulties to build the resettlement area of Kho Vang village:

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12/12/2024 Views :
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We were present at the resettlement area of Kho Vang village (Coc Lau commune, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province) when it was just a few hundred square meters of land, hastily leveled for the groundbreaking ceremony. Today, that vacant land has been transformed into a residential area with 35 solid houses. This is thanks to the efforts of the authorities at all levels, the people of Lao Cai, and especially the management board, contractors, workers... They worked with determination and the will to "overcome the sun and rain", completing the project ahead of schedule.

On the groundbreaking day, the resettlement area was just a hastily leveled vacant lot.

Today, there are 35 solid, sturdy houses here.

Remember on September 21, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group coordinated with Lao Cai provincial government, Bac Ha district, Coc Lau commune to organize the groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction area for dozens of households who lost their homes, located in the high-risk landslide area of Kho Vang village.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Nghi, Secretary of the Party Committee of Coc Lau Commune, said that the selection of a location to build a new resettlement area for 35 households in Kho Vang village had been carefully studied by the functional agencies and departments of the province, district and commune. Initially, there were 3-4 options proposed, but only one option was to build houses in a "stepped" style on the hillsides. This is a fairly stable location, with no "bare hills" around that are at risk of cracking or collapsing. Besides, according to the customs of the Mong and Dao ethnic groups, they want to live high up, not low down.

Construction is done in a "stepped" manner, so the resettlement area needs to be reinforced with stone walls, stone cages, etc.

“For thousands of years, the Mong people have chosen precarious places near the mountain tops to settle, so the selection of a new resettlement area for them must also ensure this factor. In addition, the provincial authorities have also consulted many scientists , geologists... about the above choice. All of them agree that it is only necessary to have a solution such as making stone walls to "cover" the hillside, the foot of each house also needs to be poured with concrete or reinforced with stone cages. The drainage ditches are also treated so that water can drain quickly... With such an approach, people can feel secure in settling down" - Mr. Nghi said.

Although the above choice received high response and consensus from the people, it put the Management Board as well as construction contractors in a very difficult situation.

It is difficult because to build a house, you need to have a flat surface, while the hill's terrain is not a single flat surface, but has many "steps", forcing the construction to be "stepped". That is, instead of just having to clear one level of land, the Management Board and the contractor must clear 5-7 different levels, gradually increasing. For example, the "first floor" has 3 apartments, the "second floor" has 3 apartments, the "third floor" has 3 apartments, the "fourth floor" has 8 more apartments, the "fifth floor" has 1 apartment... up to the 8th floor. Just clearing the land for the residential area has taken a lot of time and effort.

The high terrain makes it difficult to bring machinery, vehicles and transport materials to the construction site. (Photo: Lao Cai Newspaper)

Next, the transportation of construction materials to the construction site also encountered many difficulties. Mr. Do Thanh Luan, an officer in charge of the field of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Coc Lau commune, shared that in the early days of reconstruction, the Management Board as well as the contractor encountered many difficulties due to the mountainous terrain and steep slopes, having to "cut down trees and scrape the ground" to make roads. Moreover, the torrential rains in the forest turned the road into a muddy puddle, and "single-bridge" and even "two-bridge" vehicles often got stuck.

I still remember the day we climbed the road leading to the resettlement area, it was really a big challenge. Even though the road was cleared by a special vehicle, we still had to overcome many steep slopes, where every step seemed to test the courage of anyone.

The road surface was covered with red mud, becoming slippery like grease after each rain. The rainwater ran down, creating deep, patchy grooves everywhere. The rain also turned the soil into a soft, spongy layer – if you weren’t careful, you could easily sink into it and lose your shoes.

To form the current land and traffic system, the construction unit had to level hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of earth and rock. (Photo: Lao Cai Newspaper)

Mr. Bui Van Thang, manager of one of the many construction teams at the site, told us that when receiving the request to build nearly ten new houses here, with great social significance, all the workers in his team were determined to "overcome the sun and rain" to carry out the work from digging the foundation, pouring concrete and completing in the shortest time, with the best quality.

Faced with the possibility of heavy rain affecting the transportation of materials, Mr. Thang discussed with the contractor to mobilize 4WD vehicles and excavators. For difficult sections of road, excavators will be used to level the road, or trucks will be towed to try to gather enough materials.

According to Mr. Thang, to ensure progress, workers are willing to work overtime and night shifts. It is expected that it will take about 10 days to complete the rough construction of a house, and the finishing work will be completed by the end of December...

Minh Tien

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Source: https://www.pvn.vn/chuyen-muc/tap-doan/tin/b46e1ef3-8811-4321-b0e3-812c3d4d35b4