Two houses block Bac Lieu street for 20 years

The owners of the two homes have consistently refused relocation, and with the situation dragging on for so long, authorities of Bac Lieu Province held a press conference on Tuesday to discuss a solution.

More than 20 years ago, a project was launched to upgrade the road in the downtown area of the province’s capital city of the same name.

Vo Van Kiet road runs less than 1 km long and stretches 30 m wide, but it is impossible to drive the whole way because of the two houses.

The project affected 62 families and 60 agreed to move away to make space for the road expansion.

Yet the families of Do Thanh Hung and Nguyen Thi Huong refused to do so.

A close-up view of a house blocking one side of Vo Van Kiet Street in Bac Lieu Province, May 2023. Photo by VnExpress/An Minh

Locals in the area are aware the road is blocked, but visitors do not realize until they hit a dead end and have no option but to turn around and drive on the wrong side of the road to get out.

Do Thanh Tuan, son of Do Thanh Hung, said his family refuse to move because authorities have been inconsistent in their relocation plan.

He said his family will lose 1,000 sq.m of land and would only be willing to hand it over if they receive compensation of VND100 billion (US$4.27 million).

Bac Lieu Town’s chairwoman Le Kim Thuy told the press conference that local authorities had repeatedly talked to the two families about moving out and handing over the space for traffic, but they would not agree.

Le Tan Can, deputy chairman of Bac Lieu Province, said the two families had refused to cooperate since the beginning so the authorities had yet to identify the exact spot for completing the road.

Provincial chairman Pham Van Thieu said that the province and the town would continue to work with the two families on a “reasonable” compensation and relocation plan in accordance with the law.

If they continue to refuse the plan, the province will force them to move, he said.