A series of resorts, stretching more than 15 kilometers along the coastline from Dien Ngoc to Dien Duong communes in Dien Ban District, have pushed local families aside and uprooted them from their traditional livelihoods.

More than 30 households formerly farmed on land that was handed over for resort construction. Others who used to make a living from fishing now have to navigate around the fences that cordon off the resorts to reach the ocean.

“I’m not happy at all to live near a resort,” said Nguyen Thi Huong, 59. “Now, we always have to worry about what to eat next.”

At first, many of the locals had hoped to benefit from getting a job in the luxury complexes. But it turned out later that less than 20 percent of relocated individuals actually gained employment at the resorts, Deputy Head of Dien Duong Commune Le Van Khue said.

Huong and her 10-member family once owned 1,100 square meters of land, which was used to grow vegetables and rice.

There was enough rice to feed everyone and they sold their vegetables to pay for other expenses, Huong said.

After being forced to resettle on a 350-squaremeter plot of land to make way for the resorts, the compensation fee of VND100 million (US$6,000) only allowed Huong’s family to build a new one-floor house to live in. They no longer could cultivate crops since they didn’t have any arable land.

Moreover, the resort owners refused to employ Huong’s three grown sons because they had low education levels. One of her daughtersin-law became a fish vendor at the market earning VND10,000-VND15,000 (59-88 cents) a day, while the other is still looking for work. “We have consumed almost all of our rice, we have no jobs and don’t know how we will survive in the upcoming time,” Huong said.

Fishermen’s famine

Luxury development has also pushed many fishing families who have been plying their trade for hundreds of years to the brink of poverty.

Ever since the resorts erected a fence around the perimeters along the coastline, it takes an extra hour for fishermen to go around the compounds to reach the sea, said Cao Van Chat, who has fished for more than 40 years. Nowadays, the catch is brought back to the market at around noon, which makes it very  difficult to sell.

The 58-year-old Chat said locals are not against having the resorts but rather they want provincial authorities to guarantee that residents “will be able to earn a stable living after [the luxury complexes are built].”

Local Nguyen Khac said unemployment is not so important for those above the age of 50, but authorities “must create jobs” for young men in their prime.

Hundreds of young men have left Dien Ngoc Commune for Da Nang City and other localities in the south to seek jobs as there are few opportunities at home, said commune Deputy Head Vo Luong.

By the time all the resorts are finished, more than 1,600 families in the two affected communes will suffer “ruptured lives,” Luong said.

Some of the relocated residents have even had to use the compensation fees to feed themselves instead of building new houses.

Source: Tuoi Tre