New hope at the Gold Vault

Comrade Tran Quang Dung, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Vietnam National Petroleum Group, along with leaders of Lao Cai province, discussed the reconstruction of Kho Vang village.

Horrifying memories

We arrived in Coc Lau commune, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province, while the aftermath of the "great flood" was still lingering.

Along the inter-district road, bordering the Chay River, every so often there are signs and barriers warning of landslides. Mounds of earth and mud have piled up, occupying the entire road surface. Bulldozers have to constantly clear the debris to create a path.

Beneath the Chay River's surface, the water swirls with red silt, and both banks have become dumping grounds for garbage, tree trunks, and branches swept upstream. On the embankment, the force of the water erodes deep into the road, creating a terrifying, frog-like cavity that could collapse at any moment.

Temporary shelters for residents of Kho Vang village, next to the commune's People's Committee office.

Also along this riverbank, at the People's Committee office of Coc Lau commune, there are currently nearly 20 temporary shelters where people are staying. These are the same households from Kho Vang village who were led to "escape the flood" by village head Ma Seo Chu on September 9th.

Arriving here early on the morning of September 21st, we could see that the tents and shelters were quite sturdy, constructed with two or three layers of canvas. Inside, there were beds, mats, blankets, and mosquito nets… Electricity had also been brought to each household.

Ms. Hang Thi Say (28 years old), residing in Kho Vang village, shared: "Over the past few days, many charitable groups have donated rice, instant noodles, bottled water, clothes, etc., so the lives of the villagers are quite stable." When asked about her family's situation, Ms. Say teared up as she recounted her story.

She was born and raised in Coc Lau, and after getting married, she moved to her husband's home in Kho Vang village. Here, the family mainly lives off agriculture . Every day, she and her husband tend to the rice fields, plant cassava and corn, and raise buffaloes, goats, and chickens…

Ms. Hang Thi Say recalled the terrifying experience she and her family had just gone through.

“Those days, it rained heavily, and floodwaters from upstream cut off the roads, so no one dared to leave their house. Many houses in low-lying areas were also flooded up to their level. Hearing Mr. Chu's appeal, I quickly carried one child, my husband carried another, and we ran to a higher hill, about 1km away from our old house. A few days ago, my husband returned to our old house and found that many of our belongings had been swept away by the water, and the rice paddies and acacia hills were completely submerged… All the hard work of our family has been lost. Now we don't know where to turn for help,” – Mrs. Say sobbed.

Giàng Seo Phố, 20 years old, holding his 7-month-old child, shared his story with us. In his old village, his family made a living by farming, growing cinnamon and cassava. On the day of the flood, when water inundated their house, Phố quickly told his wife to grab a mat and a few clothes before running after the village head, Chứ.

Giàng Seo Phố still remembers the dogs that his family didn't have time to bring along.

“Now that we’re back here, we’re safe, but I still miss the dogs so much. When I left, one of them ran after me, and I couldn’t carry it across the river. I wonder if it’s managed to find anything to eat these past few days…” – Mr. Pho said, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Stop for a moment," Mr. Pho recounted.

"I heard the other day that the provincial authorities and businesses will be supporting the construction of houses for the villagers in our hamlet at a new location, and I was very happy. However, it's still too far from that location to my rice fields, and I haven't been able to get there yet. I hope the government will help build a road so I can get back to my fields to plant and cultivate."

Sung Seo Dua (30 years old, also from Kho Vang village) and his wife currently have three young children, so on the day they fled the flood, he was so busy carrying his children that he couldn't take anything with him. Luckily, when they returned to the shelter near the commune committee, they received support from the authorities and philanthropists in the form of rice, salt, clothes, etc.

Mentioning his old home, Mr. Dua's eyes welled up with tears. "The floodwaters washed away the road back. When I rushed back here, I saw the rice was ripe but we couldn't harvest it. There was still rice at my old house, but we couldn't mill it either. I hope the government will rebuild the road for the people..."

A panoramic view of the groundbreaking ceremony for the complete reconstruction of the Kho Vàng village residential area.

New hope

Responding to the call of the Party, the State, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and with the approval of the Prime Minister, in keeping with the tradition of mutual support, compassion, and social responsibility, Petrovietnam proactively proposed to cooperate with Lao Cai province in undertaking the reconstruction of the Kho Vang village residential area, ensuring a stable, safe, and long-term life for the people. The Kho Vang resettlement area is expected to cover 2.5 hectares and provide housing for approximately 40 households.

According to Comrade Tran Quang Dung, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), the new residential area will ensure that all the daily living needs of the people are met according to the standards of the new rural development program. In particular, the design and construction of the new residential area will be based on the cultural characteristics, customs, and traditions of the Dao and Mong ethnic groups – the two main population groups in Kho Vang village. The new location is approximately 1.5 km from the old village site.

On the morning of September 21st, Petrovietnam, in coordination with the local authorities, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the Kho Vang village residential area.

Mr. Ma Seo Giao arrived early, carrying his child on his back, to witness the groundbreaking ceremony.

Carrying his son on his back, trying to arrive early for the groundbreaking ceremony, Mr. Ma Seo Giao, a resident of Kho Vang village, said that he and his wife have six children, the youngest being 2-year-old Ma Seo Toan, who was sleeping soundly on his back. The flood and landslide had taken away all their house, fields, and cinnamon plantations on two hills. "Now we're left with nothing, I don't know how we'll feed our children!" Mr. Ma Seo Giao shared with us.

Pausing for a moment, he said, "When the village head informed us that new houses would be built for many families in Kho Vang, my wife and I were very happy. Because we would no longer have to live in constant fear of 'fleeing floods' every time there was a storm. I hope the government can arrange a new place for us to cultivate our land, so that moving to the fields will be faster and less arduous for us."

The people of Kho Vang village are excited because they will soon have new homes.

Also present at the groundbreaking ceremony from early on, Ms. Sung Seo Du recounted that she still hasn't forgotten the day when a storm raged and floodwaters poured in, inundating her house. While she and her husband and children were extremely worried and didn't know what to do, the village head, Ma Seo Chu, came to their house and urged them to evacuate.

“During the few days we were in the shack, we went hungry because we didn't have time to bring food. Luckily, after only two days, the authorities found us and brought us to the commune office. Today, I'm so happy to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new village. I hope my family can move to our new home soon, because the current place is very hot and stuffy, and there's no study desk for the children…,” Ms. Dứ shared.

Meeting Ms. Hang Thi Say again at the construction site, she was no longer crying but smiling. "My husband and I are so happy. We just hope the government will complete the project quickly so that our family can have a stable life," she said.

A new ray of hope has been kindled, just two weeks after Mr. Ma Seo Giao and many other villagers in Kho Vang were filled with immense grief and sorrow.

"The Danko of the village"

It is known that Kho Vang village was formed by merging two villages, Kho Lac and Ban Vang, with a total of several dozen households scattered across many residential clusters stretching approximately 7km.

When mentioning Kho Vang village, one cannot fail to mention village head Ma Seo Chu. Despite his young age, he made a quick and wise decision to relocate all 17 households of the village to a safer place, earning him the nickname "Danko of the village."

Village head Ma Seo Chứ – Đanko of the people of Kho Vàng village.

Due to the sudden floods, dozens of other households in the "lower area" lost their homes, and several people died or went missing. "At that time, the residential area was cut off by floodwaters, and there was no phone signal, so we couldn't contact authorities for advice. Having received numerous warnings and training sessions, I thought we had to proactively evacuate the residents," Mr. Chứ recounted.

On the morning of September 9th, Chứ was particularly worried because many hills surrounding the village were saturated with water and could collapse, burying Kho Vàng village. Prior to this, the Cốc Lầu commune authorities had warned about the impact of the remnants of typhoon number 3, which would cause heavy rain and potentially landslides in many areas.

Seeing the incessant rain, and sensing that the large hill behind the residential area could collapse at any moment, Mr. Chứ quickly consulted with the party members and decided to call some young men from the village to survey the surrounding area.

Mr. Chứ mobilized seven young men from the village to form a group to inspect the hill above the village. During the inspection, they discovered a crack 20cm wide and approximately 30m long. Notably, the crack was found directly on the hill, about 100m from Kho Vàng village.

“It rained continuously from night until morning, and I was very worried. At 8:00 AM on September 9th, I called my colleagues to go up the hill to check the landslide situation and find a high, flat hill or mountain to gradually plan the evacuation of the villagers. At 8:30 AM, everyone reported that there was a high risk of landslides. I called the commune to report it, but the phone completely lost signal and I couldn't contact them,” shared Mr. Ma Seo Chứ.

By 9:00 AM that same day, with the rain still pouring down on the village, Mr. Chứ decided to evacuate all 17 households, comprising 115 people, to a mountain 1km away from the village. The evacuation was carried out as quickly as possible.

Before evacuating to their new location, Mr. Chứ informed everyone to only bring essentials such as blankets, dishes, pots and pans, and a little rice for cooking, because it was still raining heavily and the relocation time was very short.

“From the moment the landslide was discovered until everyone safely reached the campsite, it only took about 8 hours. By 4 PM on September 9th, all 115 villagers had arrived safely. After everyone reached the site, the next day, the hill behind them collapsed right onto the village,” Chứ recalled.

The villagers reached safe shelters, but the main difficulty they faced was a shortage of food and water, as they had brought very little with them. Therefore, in addition to monitoring the flood situation, the people of Kho Vang village also took turns surveying the roads to surrounding villages and the road back to the commune to seek assistance. However, all roads were blocked by landslides.

While the villagers were facing numerous difficulties, on the afternoon of September 11th, the authorities found them. “We were overjoyed to be found by the authorities, knowing that we had been saved. People brought instant noodles and dried food to help us with our immediate needs. The next day, the commune and district authorities brought a lot of relief supplies to help us stabilize our lives,” recounted Mr. Ma Seo Chứ.

According to Comrade Tran Quang Dung, September 21st – the day the construction project commenced – was a Saturday, a day off for employees of many agencies and businesses, but for nearly 60,000 oil and gas workers, it was a "Volunteer Saturday." All employees in the industry worked an extra day to contribute funds to social welfare activities in general, including the reconstruction of Kho Vang village in particular.

Comrade Tran Quang Dung, on behalf of the leaders, officials, and employees of Petrovietnam, also extended his warmest greetings and best wishes to the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, Provincial People's Council, Provincial People's Committee, and Provincial Fatherland Front Committee of Lao Cai province, Bac Ha district, and Coc Lau commune, wishing them strength and resilience to overcome difficulties; and wishing that Kho Vang village will soon become a "gold mine" of Coc Lau commune, Bac Ha district, and Lao Cai province.

Minh Tien - Thanh Ngoc

Source: https://www.pvn.vn/chuyen-muc/tap-doan/tin/dc0e408e-2805-48d6-99b6-0c9e1349fbf1