UN funds give poor residents disaster-resistant houses

Heavy flooding occurs annually in Quang Dien District.-VNS Photo Phuoc Buu

Hung, a 50-year-old resident of Sia Township in the province’s Quang Dien District, said his humble income is sufficient for feeding his three children. He is unable to use one leg and this prevents him from farming or construction jobs which have higher salaries.

Quang Dien is one of the lowest lying areas in the province, with inundation sometimes lasting for a month. The condition means his family are some of the most vulnerable to floods.

“In 1999, a historic flood occurred in the province and my old house was flooded almost to the roof. My family and others in this area had to evacuate,” said Hung. “Since then, we have lived in the fear and I dreamed of a better house.”

His dream came true this year after he joined a UNDP housing programme, in which the UN development body gave him half of the construction cost and the other half was lent by the local Bank for Social Policies.

“Without international funding, I would have never been able to own this good house, built for VND104 million (US$4,500). I have no savings and didn’t dare ask for a bank loan,” said Hung.

Hung’s newly-built house is built of concrete, with a living room and a kitchen underneath and a mezzanine floor above. Hung said the mezzanine would shelter his family in case of flooding. At the same time, Hung has kept the old house attached to the new structure to give his family more space.

According to Akiko Fujii, deputy director of UNDP Country Office in Vietnam, the housing fund is part of a programme to assist poor families in areas threatened by climate change. Fujii said at a ceremony held in the province handing over 107 houses built with UNDP funds that those houses are “safe structures”, not only for flood resistance but can also protect residents from extreme weather conditions like typhoons.

“The houses have a mezzanine floor to protect residents from floods and their roofs are reinforced to endure strong winds,” she said, adding that the structure of those houses aims to save lives and improve the resilience of the communities as well.

UNDP explained the choice of Thua Thien-Hue as a key area for the project due to the high frequency of floods and typhoons. The UN body also targeted the poor, disadvantaged and elderly people to benefit from the project.

The province has a total of 135 families in lowland areas of Quang Dien, Phong Dien and Huong Tra districts registered with the project, of which 107 households received houses this year and the remainder will get their homes in early 2019.

For each house, the UNDP will provide $1,700 and the remainder comes from contingency costs given by the Government.

The project found difficulties, according to residents in Hai Duong Commune in Huong Tra District, in the mindset of rural families. Those people felt it hard to comply with the material and structural requirements.

Residents in rural areas are often reluctant to follow modern procedures in construction.

However, that seemed to not be the case with some elderly residents taking advantage of the project. The project gave beneficiaries two options - one allows families to use just funds given by UNDP. The other assists residents in accessing preferential bank loans in case they want to spend more on their houses.

The first option is most relevant to the elderly, who are incapable of making bank loan repayments. Trương Vinh, an 81-year-old resident of Quang Thanh Commune in Quang Dien District, said he is happy with the funded house. Vinh lives with his wife in the commune.

“My wife and I have no worries now. The house is beautiful and we no longer worry about storms, floods, and also debt,” he said.