City not taking proper care of displaced residents
Article
(Listed Jul 2, 2009)
District authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are not very keen on helping residents displaced by development projects to stabilize their lives with jobs and decent homes, say city councilors.
Recent inspections carried out by officials of the Economy and Budget Department of the HCMC People's Council found that most displaced residents have received neither proper resettlement housing nor jobs in their new neighborhoods.
Under its resettlement program, the city is expected to raise VND600 billion (US$33.7 million) to find jobs or offer vocational training for the displaced. But as of the end of May, the fund had only raised VND48.8 billion.
Several resettlement apartments were of poor qualify and the residents have had to repair them with their own money, the councilors said, citing the Ly Chieu Hoang apartment building in Binh Tan District and Thanh My Loi and Binh Trung Dong apartments in District 2 as examples.
Following a decree in 2006, the city has so far resettled 4,120 out of 4,636 families who had been displaced and who had been living in temporary residences for years, some since 19%.
Yet another 516 families have been displaced due to different city projects in recent years.
The council officials have asked the city People's Committee to give orders and follow up on them to ensure enough accommodation is built for the displaced by 2015.
They also requested the committee carefully study the living conditions of a household before evacuating them so that it is easier to resettle them afterward, and monitor their life after resettlement to support them when needed. Source: Thanhnien News
District authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are not very keen on helping residents displaced by development projects to stabilize their lives with jobs and decent homes, say city councilors.
