Why have people in the landslide area of ​​Cam mountain not been evacuated yet?

It has been 4 years since the terrible landslide on Cam Mountain (now in Cat Tien Commune, Gia Lai Province), and to this day, people in the affected area have not been relocated or resettled.

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In Chanh Thang village, the devastation from the landslide in mid-November 2021 is still evident. Walking around the landslide site, we saw many abandoned houses, wild gardens, and weeds; some houses are still trapped by landslides of earth and rocks.

Scene of Cam Mountain landslide in November 2021. Documentary photo

In mid-November 2021, Cam Mountain suddenly collapsed, leaving a long trail from the top of the mountain, burying many residential areas.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duon (63 years old) recalls the night of the landslide on Cam Mountain: “The night of the landslide on Cam Mountain, I heard a loud noise like an airplane hovering in the sky, it was terrifying. After that, soil, rocks and trees from the mountain rushed down, the whole village only had time to run away to save their lives, leaving all their belongings behind. Now my husband and I really want to move to a safe place, but until now we still have to stay, every rainy and stormy season we are afraid.”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duon is still shocked and worried when hearing about the landslide again.

As reported by SGGP Newspaper, in mid-November 2021, Cam Mountain suddenly collapsed, creating a flood of rock and soil estimated at about 35,000m³, burying many residential areas, threatening the lives of 117 households.

Mrs. Duon pointed to the scene of the landslide where mud and rocks had buried her house years ago.

Mrs. Duon and her husband are old but still live in fear every rainy and flood season.

In April 2022, the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province approved a project to urgently relocate 64 households (costing 32 billion VND), including regulating the flow and building a 3-hectare resettlement area. To date, the infrastructure of the resettlement area has been completed but is still abandoned.

Mr. Nguyen Su (64 years old, living near the mouth of the landslide) expressed: "The project is called urgent, but after 4 years, people in the landslide area have not been moved. Most of the people here hope to leave the danger zone soon."

A house buried by mud and landslide rocks has not been repaired yet.

Many houses are abandoned, the owners have moved elsewhere for fear of landslides.

Many houses are abandoned and closed at the foot of Cam Mountain every time the rainy season approaches.

In addition, people are also concerned that on the top of Cam Mountain, there are many large, weathered rocks that are at high risk of landslides. “My house is right at the foot of the mountain, near the old landslide site. On the top, there are large rocks with hollowed out bases. Every time we hear a storm forecast, the whole family is worried that rocks will roll down the house,” said Mai Thi Kim Lien (56 years old), who lives close to the cliff.

Mrs. Le Thi Kim Loa (house near the foot of Cam mountain) hopes to soon be relocated to a safe settlement.

Many households are worried that many rocks on the mountain with hollow bases could roll down to residential areas.

According to a leader of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Cat Tien commune, the biggest difficulty at present is that the project is lacking funds to compensate for houses, trees, and assets on land for 64 households; it is estimated to need about 70-80 billion VND. "Cat Tien commune has just been established, this amount of funding is beyond the commune's capacity, so it is powerless," this leader stated.

The resettlement area for the Cam Mountain landslide area has been completed, but is still "exposed to the sun and dew"

The infrastructure of the resettlement area in the Cam Mountain landslide area has been completed but people cannot be relocated yet.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Cat Tien Commune, said: In the near future, the locality will restart the project, propose the province to recommend the Central Government to allocate funds to quickly relocate people to a safe place. In the immediate future, we will review and inventory land needs, compensate for houses and assets so that the relocation is in accordance with regulations and suitable to the reality of each household.

The emergency evacuation project in the disaster area is expected to relocate 64 households.

However, Mr. Hung is concerned that due to the project's many problems, lack of funding and complicated procedures, it will be very difficult to complete the relocation of households in the landslide area of ​​Cam Mountain before the flood season of 2025.

NGOC OAI

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vi-sao-van-chua-di-doi-dan-vung-sat-lo-nui-cam-post817592.html