"Overwhelmed" at Trang Dinh carpentry village.

(Baohatinh.vn) - Trang Dinh wood carving village (Gia Hanh commune, Ha Tinh province) is famous for its fine wood carving craft. But behind these exquisite products lies an alarming reality of environmental pollution.

Báo Hà Tĩnh•18/08/2025

The Trang Dinh carpentry village was established in 1950, mainly concentrated in the two hamlets of Dinh Son and Trang Son. To date, the carpentry trade has attracted nearly 400 households with over 700 regular workers. However, the conversion of houses into carpentry workshops is causing many negative consequences for the environment and health.

Doing woodworking at home always involves dealing with dust pollution.

At the home of Mr. Duong Tri Binh (Dinh Son village, Gia Hanh commune), no matter the time of day, both the upstairs and downstairs are always locked and bolted, with many tarpaulins stretched in front of the house, yet dust still covers everything. Not only that, the constant sounds of chiseling, carving, sawing, and planing are incredibly noisy.

"Working from home is dusty and not very clean, but it's much more convenient because I can use my free time. As for the noise, almost the whole village is noisy. It's been a common noise problem for a long time," Mr. Binh shared.

To facilitate production, Mr. Cao Van Hanh (Trang Son village, Gia Hanh commune) has utilized a portion of land right next to his family's house to build a small carpentry workshop. Inside the workshop, saws, planers, milling machines, etc., are all fully equipped. However, due to the cramped space and lack of ventilation, the noise is deafening whenever the machines are in operation, and wood dust fills the area.

Mr. Cao Van Hanh shared: "Working at home allows us to make the most of our time, but it's very noisy and dusty. Because it's a unique profession, we have to accept it."

Dust covers everything while woodworking at Mr. Cao Van Hanh's house.

Regarding environmental pollution caused by home-based woodworking, Mr. Cao Tin, head of Trang Son village, said: “Our village has over 200 households engaged in woodworking, but only a dozen or so have moved to the industrial cluster for concentrated production. Home-based production causes environmental pollution, most notably dust, noise, and a high risk of fire and explosions. However, we cannot move to the concentrated production cluster because most households are engaged in small-scale, fragmented production and lack investment capital. Furthermore, many of the woodworkers are elderly, so they prefer to work at home to earn extra income and are reluctant to move to a concentrated production area.”

Doing carpentry at home poses safety risks and pollution problems.

The products of Trang Dinh woodworking village are made from wood and must go through stages of sawing, planing, milling, chiseling, and painting... During the process, these stages all generate a large amount of dust, noise, and chemicals, directly threatening the health of workers as well as the local community.

More importantly, in Gia Hanh commune, there is the Yen Huy Industrial Cluster, covering 12 hectares, which has been operational since the beginning of 2021, but to date only 25 households have moved there for concentrated production. Frankly acknowledging the environmental problems and occupational safety issues caused by home-based woodworking production, Mr. Nguyen Van Dai, Deputy Head of the Economic Department (Gia Hanh Commune People's Committee), stated: “Small-scale, fragmented production, coupled with a lack of investment for expansion, is a major obstacle in attracting woodworkers from Gia Hanh commune to the industrial cluster. Without strong financial support policies, the goal of moving production out of residential areas will be very difficult to achieve.”

Wooden materials are scattered haphazardly along the walkways and around the houses in Trang Dinh carpentry village.

Preserving the craft while maintaining the living environment – that's the difficult challenge facing Trang Dinh carpentry village. It's time for comprehensive and decisive solutions to ensure that the people can both develop their economy and protect their health and living environment.