People in Hoa Son flash flood area 'waiting for electricity, waiting for water' to move to resettlement area

The resettlement area in Hoa Son village, Muong Xen commune, has a scale of building housing for 56 households. Basically, people have built new houses but have not lived there because there is no electricity or water. Photo: Van Truong — The resettlement area in Hoa Son village, Muong Xen commune, has a scale of building housing for 56 households. People have built new houses but have not lived in them because there is no electricity or water. Photo: Van Truong

The project is completed but people still cannot settle down.

The Hoa Son resettlement area was invested in construction to provide safe housing for 56 households in the disaster-prone area of Muong Xen commune. The project has a total investment of 31.5 billion VND. Each plot of land in the resettlement area has an area of 210 to 230m², starting from mid-November 2023 and completed in March 2025.

In early November 2025, when we arrived at the Hoa Son resettlement area, we saw dozens of new houses built by the people on the allocated plots of land. However, this area was deserted. Although people had built houses, they could not move in because the electricity and water systems were not yet complete.

van truong m57 — The electric pole has passed through the houses in the resettlement area but there are no electric wires yet. Photo: Van Truong

Mr. Vi Van Hai, a resident in the resettlement area, shared: “My family was arranged to move to a resettlement area to avoid the risk of flash floods. But until now there is no electricity or water, so we just built a house and returned to our old place. Living by the stream, when the rainy season comes, everyone is worried.”

Some other households in the Hoa Son resettlement area said: "We want to build a house in time to celebrate Tet in the new place, but there is no electricity so we cannot use mortar mixers, iron cutters, or corrugated iron cutters, making it difficult to build a house."

Mr. Vi Van Truyen, Head of Hoa Son village, said that 56 households all agreed to move to the new place. However, due to the incomplete infrastructure, people had to "stand between two places". Many households have built houses, even planted gardens, hoping to celebrate Tet in the new area.

Van Truong 3 — The power station is under construction. Photo: Van Truong

Electricity and water infrastructure needs to be completed soon for people to settle down.

According to Mr. Lo Dinh Thu - Chairman of Muong Xen Commune People's Committee, the biggest problem at present is that the Hoa Son resettlement area was previously invested by Ky Son District People's Committee and was under the management of the old Ta Ca commune. After adjusting the administrative boundaries, this area was transferred to Muong Xen commune, but up to now, the documents and handover procedures have not been completed. Therefore, the commune does not have a legal basis to receive and implement the next steps of management and operation.

Many households in the resettlement area in Hoa Son village, Muong Xen commune have finished building their houses but cannot move in because the infrastructure is not yet complete. Photo: Van Truong

“We hope that the authorities will soon complete the handover of the Hoa Son resettlement area to Muong Xen commune for management. Only then will the local government have a basis to propose and coordinate with relevant sectors to complete the electricity and water infrastructure, helping people to stabilize their lives soon. This is the rainy season, if it is not completed soon, people in low-lying areas will still face the risk of landslides and flash floods."