Thi Nghe Nursing Center (HCMC): Hot because trees are being cut down en masse

Thi Nghe Nursing Center campus lacks trees

At 10am, we arrived at the centre (153 Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Ward 17, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), the heat was already in full swing. For the past 5 months, the centre has become a construction site for a flood prevention project, littered with iron, steel, cement, and rocks. Previously, the centre had many trees, but now they are gone, making the air even hotter. In the middle of the construction site, there are still many large tree stumps that have not been moved. To avoid the heat, the elderly men and women have retreated into their rooms early.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, in house A7, said that he has been a Party member for 77 years, more than 95 years old, and has lived in the center for many years. The center has many trees, including trees planted before 1975, now 50-60 years old, but they have also been cut down, now there is no shade. Many elderly people expressed their frustration: In the past, all bedrooms and living rooms had windows overlooking the garden, shaded by various types of green trees. Under the shade of the trees, the elderly played chess, read newspapers or did exercise, yoga... Now that the trees are gone, people's lives and activities have been disrupted, seriously affecting the health of the elderly.

Through investigation, we learned that the trees in the center were cut down to implement the Flood Control Project according to Decision No. 3079/QD-SXD-DTDA dated December 19, 2023 of the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City. The project is invested by the Management Board of Investment and Construction of Civil and Industrial Works (Management Board), started on December 14, 2024, and according to the plan, the construction period will last for 300 days. The cutting down of trees was not inspected, assessed for environmental impact, or decided by the competent authority.

The center is a public elderly care facility in Ho Chi Minh City. The center has 15 separate villas, each with 10 bedrooms and 1 living room, each bedroom is 15 square meters wide. Currently, the center cares for over 120 elderly people, mainly veteran revolutionary cadres, heroic Vietnamese mothers, and single parents of martyrs without relatives to take care of them. Therefore, cutting down trees in the center's campus to implement the flood prevention project must be carefully considered and cannot be done arbitrarily.

Speaking to SGGP reporter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy, Deputy Director of the center, said that since the construction unit cut down the trees, the environmental landscape conditions in the center have become hotter than before. The center is the beneficiary, and the tree cutting is done by the investor of the flood prevention project.

Meanwhile, Mr. Duong Minh Thuy, Deputy Director of the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction of Civil and Industrial Works, informed that at the time of construction, through actual inspection, it was found that there were no old trees but only trees such as mango, banyan, bougainvillea, banana and some small bushes. The number of trees cut down on the premises for the regulating lake and wastewater treatment tank was 12 trees. After construction, this area will be regenerated into grass and green trees.

TRAN YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/trung-tam-duong-lao-thi-nghe-tphcm-nong-buc-vi-cay-xanh-bi-don-ha-hang-loat-post794556.html