Three hundred poor households in the Central Highlands' Lam Dong Province have found the promises or a government resettlement program to be hollow.

"In the past few months, my wife and I have slept in the kitchen while our three children stayed at our neighbors' places," said K'Rieng, pointing at his house which looks to be on the verge of collapse.

K'Rieng's house is one of 322 residences built for poor locals by authorities in Duc Trong District.

In an initiative started six years ago, the resettlement project sought to relocate poor families in two communes to Ta Nang Commune in the same district, where they were promised new shelters and land for agricultural cultivation.

But many resettled locals have seen their new houses deteriorate quickly. According to a report from the district's inspectors, of the more than three hundred houses that were provided, at least seven are in serious disrepair and need to be rebuilt and 12 must be fixed immediately.

Governmental inspections found the houses to have weak foundations, flimsy walls and eroding soil underneath the foundations.

Le Trung Kien, the official in charge of the relocation program, admitted that before building the houses, the district didn't deem it necessary to conduct a soil survey for constructing low-cost residences.

Nor have the majority of households received the land they were promised to begin farming.

Without land to work on, many individuals have had to become hired hands for other local residents, or even returned to their communes 50 kilometers away to find jobs.

As for those who actually got land, some are mired in disputes with other locals about ownership rights while others received remote mountain plots lacking basic irrigation.

Hoang Van Tu, chairman of Ta Nang Commune People's Committee, said many local residents had squatted on the plots intended for relocated households and refused to budge when the newcomers arrived.

Life proved to be so hard for many of the resettled folks that they soon abandoned their new homes.

Chairman of Duc Trong District People's Council Pham Minh admitted the site clearance process hasn't been carried out effectively.

"Communal authorities haven't faithfully followed instructions from the district," Minh said. "For its part, the district People's Committee hasn't been resolute. Warnings were given but no actions were taken so the problem persists."

Source: Thanhnien News