Residents in Vam Xoay seaport in Dat Mui commune of Ngoc Hien district in Ca Mau province have moved to other areas as they fear their homes may be blown away one day. However, tens of households are still there.

The road to Vam Xoay has been damaged by sea waves. Local residents have to set up temporary foot bridges to move from one house to another. 

The government has instructed local authorities to evacuate people from landslide-stricken areas to safe places for resettlement. However, with hundreds of thousands of households affected by landslides, it has become a difficult task.

Ly Thi May, a local woman, said she has to leave children with relatives because she fears the children may fall into the sea at night. However, despite the risks, the local residents don’t intend to move to resettlement areas set up by local authorities. 

Le Van Tuoi, a local man, said: “We just take life as it comes. We don’t want to confront the sea waves, but we need to stay to earn our living”.

“Life will be even harder if we move to resettlement areas because we don’t have jobs,” Tuoi said.

The resettlement area in Khanh Tien commune is one of three resettlement areas. Though the construction began six years ago, it still has not been completed and many support works have not been built. 

The area is designed for 180 households, but it remains nearly empty. Some households moved but then left after a short time.

After a serious landslide in My Hoi Dong commune last April in which tens of houses fell into the river, the An Giang provincial authorities declared emergency status and tried to relocate 100 households out of dangerous areas. 

However, the people still live in provisional houses as the housing projects for resettlement have not been completed. Many households that cannot live temporarily in pagodas and schools have decided to return to their homes, even though landslides may occur at any time.

A report showed that 500,000 households in Mekong Delta need to be evacuated. However, the number of evacuated households so far remains modest because of the lack of money and land. 

According to the Ca Mau provincial agriculture department, prior to 2015, the local authorities approved a plan to set up 35 new residential quarters to provide accommodations to 13,870 households. 

However, due to the lack of land and limited budget, the province can only arrange accommodation for over 1,000 households.