A number of Saigon residents’ livelihoods are threatened by a flood wall project that is drastically altering the surrounding landscape.
Saigon authorities are employing a number of techniques to tackle chronic flooding in the city, from dikes and floodgates to pumping stations. In Binh Tan District, hundreds of households have been partially or fully blocked off by a three-kilometer brick wall that will serve as the foundation for a road elevation project, reports Tuoi Tre.
Though the local People’s Committee said that they are supervising the project along Kinh Duong Vuong Street, affected residents don’t seem satisfied with the work thus far. In a country where roadside real estate allows homeowners to run their businesses out of the ground floor of their house, the flood wall project could rob local residents of their street side storefronts.
Many of the 500 families whose homes stand along the stretch of road have complained that their ground floors may soon be subterranean. “My house was built to last so it’s very hard to renovate,” Tien, a local grocer, told the paper, adding: “I’m worried that my ground floor will turn into a basement once they finish construction.”
According to Transport Department official Bui Xuan Cuong, who is overseeing the project, Kinh Duong Vuong Street’s current elevation is 0.4 meters while high tide often reached 1.68 meters.
The photos show how residents of Kinh Duong Vuong Street are struggling with the brick walls.
[Photos via Tuoi Tre]
