Construction work on dykes along Saigon River in Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward of Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City has been moving far too slowly or is at a virtual standstill for the last two years.
Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward has three ongoing dyke construction projects underway at the moment. However, progress on all three projects is relatively at a standstill.
During high tide occurring at the end of September, floodwaters flowed over a dyke section inundating 50 houses and submerging Road No.7, for several days.
The dyke along Hai Sang Canal is far too fragile to withstand the high tide waves. The ongoing construction work to fortify or build a new dyke is on hold with only 30 percent of the construction work complete so far. On the construction site one can see a barge and a crane lying idle at the river’s edge.
Similar conditions prevail at the construction site along Vinh Cuu Canal and Saigon 3 Canal, with only 70 percent of the work complete.
Tran Van Hieu, a worker at the Hai Sang Canal said that the dyke was under construction till its investor Petrolimex Construction Joint Stock Company sacked some workers without an explanation.
The company just held on to seven workers to watch over the site. However, four of them quit as they were not given salaries for the last four months.
By the end of September, when workers saw the high tide rising, they informed the company asking them to send material and more workers to take proper action, but they got no response.
When floodwaters overflowed the dyke and streamed into commune homes, the company still did not make a move, despite the workers continually telephoning them of the situation.
Ho Van Phuoc, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee in Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward said that they had reported the matter to district authorities, who sent a dispatch to the company asking them to speed up the construction work on the dykes, but still no response has been forthcoming.
