Located in Conac Tower apartment building on Nguyen An Ninh street, Vung Tau city, the 50-square-metre apartment of Le Thanh Nghi, a 48-year-old worker from Thanh Hoa province, is small but neat and tidy. During the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the building management has strictly followed the regulations on pandemic prevention and control.
Nghi shared that when he started working at IDICO Investment Construction Oil and Natural Gas Joint Stock Company (IDICO-CONAC), he thought that having a house to settle down in in Vung Tau city was an impossible dream. His family had to live in rented rooms and changed houses many times. He faced many difficulties every time he moved out of the rental property and sought new accommodation.
Like Nghi, Nguyen Van Tam, a 34-year-old worker from Binh Thuan province, had experienced disadvantages of being a tenant before receiving a social apartment from his company.
“My wife and I couldn’t sleep the night before the hand-over, everything came to me like a dream,” Tam said, adding that IDICO- CONAC is really his second home.
With the criterion of not greenlighting environmentally unfriendly projects, Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial authorities have prioritised projects with modern technology. Over the recent years, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has created favourable mechanisms to attract businesses to invest in social housing projects to improve the lives of workers.
According to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Construction Mai Trung Hung, seven State-funded social housing projects with a combined investment of around 697.5 billion VND have been completed, with a total of 931 apartments and 150 row houses having been put into operation. The provincial People's Committee has also approved the conversion of two commercial housing projects with 492 apartments into social housing.
Director of IDICO CONAC Le Thanh Tung (R) presents a gift to a worker at the inauguration ceremony of a social housing project in Vung Tau city.
Le Thanh Tung Director of IDICO CONAC, which is the investor of the project of housing for officers and workers of My Xuan B1 Industrial Park in Phu My town, said that the first phase of the project has a total investment of 208 billion VND.
Covering an area of 1.3 hectares, the five-storey building includes public spaces, services, and wastewater treatment systems to serve low-income people, most of them being workers at My Xuan B1 Industrial Park.
General Director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau House Development JSC (HODECO) Le Viet Lien said that the company is working on the HODECO social housing project in Phu My ward, Phu My town. The 700 billion VND project covers nearly 1.8 hectares, with a total of 850 apartments measuring from 43.49 to 62.87 square metres each for rent to workers in the industrial parks. Upon completion, the project is expected to serve the housing demand of nearly 1,000 workers.
Building social housing for workers is a major policy of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Although such projects have not generated high profit and the payback period is long, HODECO is determined to work on it effectively with its strong corporate social responsibility in order to join hands with the local authorities in maintaining social security policies and ensuring the livelihoods of workers.
Many other social housing projects have also been implemented by businesses in the province to provide home for workers, including the 11.6 ha social housing project in Tan Phuoc commune invested by Thanh Binh - Phu My JSC, a 700 ha housing area in Nghia Thanh commune by the Sonadezi Chau Duc JSC, and the 100 ha Dat Do residential area invested by Tin Nghia JSC.
Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is also calling for investment in social housing projects in Vung Tau city’s Ward 12, Chau Duc district, and Dat Do district.
According to Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Tho, the province’s social housing development plan for 2020-2025 seeks to encourage businesses to invest in housing projects for workers in industrial parks, including the housing project in Phu My urban area which targets to provide at least 150,000 square metres of residential floor space for rent to workers.
