Hundreds of worker dormitories in Nghe An are deserted

Factory reception

For nearly a year now, a series of worker dormitories in Block 9 (Tan Mai Ward, Nghe An Province) have been deserted, with no tenants. This block is located next to Hoang Mai 1 Industrial Park, formerly part of the old Quynh Loc Commune. After implementing a two-level government, Quynh Loc, along with Quynh Di and Quynh Lap, were merged to become Tan Mai Ward.

“We put up notices in front of the boarding house all year round and advertised heavily on social media, but after waiting since the beginning of the year, no one has come to see the rooms to rent,” said Ms. Hoang Thi Hue, owner of a 7-room boarding house in block 9.

A spacious 2-storey boarding house but no tenants. Photo: Tien Hung

In 2023, factories in Hoang Mai Industrial Park 1 were built one after another. At that time, thousands of workers and engineers working on factory construction flocked here, causing the demand for rental housing to increase.

“At that time, construction workers were bustling about, they went around the neighborhood to ask for places to rent. Seeing that, many households invested money to build rental houses, restaurants, and breakfast shops to serve the workers,” said Mr. Le Van Tinh - Head of Block 9, Tan Mai Ward.

Like many other neighbors, Mr. Tinh also spent nearly 1 billion VND to invest in building a 14-room dormitory. "We thought, if there were only workers coming to build the factory and it was already this crowded, then when the factory started operating, there would be a lot of workers," Mr. Tinh said. In just a short time, in Block 9 alone, there were dozens of dormitory blocks with about 400 rooms. There were investors who invested large sums of money to build spacious 2-story dormitories.

Mr. Tinh said that each of his rented rooms is nearly 20 square ^meters wide and is fully equipped with amenities, including air conditioning. Each room is rented out by Mr. Tinh for 1 million VND/month. "We thought that we would earn more than 10 million VND/month and would quickly recover our investment," Mr. Tinh said with a sad smile.

But then, contrary to Mr. Tinh and other landlords’ expectations, when the factories were completed, thousands of construction workers left, and the streets in Block 9 became deserted. When the factories started operating, the companies also opened canteens, so workers did not need to go out to eat. Therefore, the surrounding restaurants became deserted. Many restaurants that had just opened for a few months had to close. The workers’ dormitories also faced a similar situation. Especially after a large factory had to stop operating for a year now.

Mr. Tinh invested nearly 1 billion VND in the boarding house, but currently only 3 out of 14 rooms are occupied. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Mr. Tinh, there are 3 companies operating in Hoang Mai 1 Industrial Park. “In fact, there are many workers working there. The leather shoe company alone has about 7,000 workers. But the workers’ salaries are very low, they do not have enough money to rent a room. Most of the workers are children living around the industrial park, they go to work in the morning and come back in the evening,” Mr. Tinh said, adding that the landlords therefore only rely on 2 companies specializing in energy and electronic components manufacturing, because the workers here have higher incomes.

However, in 2024, after a few months of working, the energy company with 3,000 workers suddenly stopped operating until now. The workers had to leave their rented rooms and return to their hometowns. Since then, the dormitories for workers, which were already deserted, have become even more deserted.

According to the block leader's statistics, currently the number of rented rooms in the block is less than 10%. According to the reporter's investigation, not only block 9 (Tan Mai ward) but many landlords in blocks in Hoang Mai ward are also in the same situation.

Deserted Inn

In Trung Loc commune (Nghe An province), the worker dormitories are even more deserted. Even many spacious dormitories, which have not been rented out yet, have been abandoned for many years. "It would be a pity to demolish them, but it would be a waste to leave them. We also have a headache, and we also feel sorry for the landlords who invested a large amount of money but could not recover their capital," said Mr. Le Van Hoa - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Trung Loc commune.

Mr. Hoa was previously the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghi Xa Commune, where many factories are located in the Nam Cam Industrial Park. "Just in hamlets like hamlets 8, 9 and 11 of the old Nghi Xa Commune, there have been hundreds of dormitories that have been unoccupied for many years, which is a huge waste," Mr. Hoa added.

Mr. Duc next to his family's boarding house. Photo: Tien Hung

Among the landlords, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Duc (66 years old, hamlet 9, old Nghi Xa commune, now Trung Loc commune), was the first to invest money to build a row of workers' dormitories. Mr. Duc said that it was in 2014, when the first factory in Nam Cam Industrial Park, located right behind his house, started operating. "At that time, workers came from everywhere, mostly from Ha Tinh and the old districts of Anh Son and Do Luong. They searched the whole hamlet to find a place to rent, but no one had one. There was a case where, almost midnight, the father took his child to look for a place to stay everywhere but couldn't find one, so he came to my house to ask for a place to stay," Mr. Duc said. Seeing that Mr. Duc's family was offering free accommodation, many other workers also came. There were nights when dozens of workers spread out mats and slept in Mr. Duc's house.

Seeing this situation, Mr. Duc decided to spend money to build boarding houses for workers to rent, despite objections from his children. Two boarding houses with 22 rooms, averaging 16 square ^meters , cost Mr. Duc and his wife about 800 million VND. Each room was rented out for 500,000 VND/month. "As soon as the boarding house was finished, workers rushed to rent it, and they cleaned it themselves. Every room was packed with people, with 6 workers sharing one room," Mr. Duc said. Soon after, a series of other boarding houses in the old Nghi Xa commune were built one after another.

However, after a short time, the joy of the landlords ended. That was when companies started buying cars to organize pick-up and drop-off for workers at home. For convenience, many workers immediately left their rented rooms, so they could go to work in the factory in the morning and return home to their families in the evening.

“More than 10 years ago, newly built houses were rented for 500,000 VND or even 600,000 VND/month. But now it is only 300,000 VND/month, and the landlord even covers the electricity and water bills. Even though there are 13 rooms, only 3 of them are rented, so we are very lucky,” Mr. Nguyen Dinh Duc said with a smile, saying that he invested 800 million VND, but after more than 10 years, his family has only earned about 100 million VND in rent.

Not as lucky as Mr. Duc, next door, Mrs. Nguyen Thi May (70 years old), also has a 5-room boarding house. However, the boarding house has been closed and has not had any tenants for 5 years. "It would be a pity to demolish it now, let's wait a little longer and see what happens," Mrs. May said.

Mrs. May's abandoned boarding house for many years. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh - Head of Hamlet 9 (Trung Loc Commune), this hamlet alone has nearly 1,000 workers' dormitories. Not to mention hamlets such as Hamlet 8 and Hamlet 11 which also have similar numbers. However, currently the number of rented rooms accounts for less than 10%.

Mr. Le Van Hoa - Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Trung Loc commune said that this is a lesson for the locality. "Most of the boarding houses have not been rented for many years but are still left like that. The landlords still hope that the factories in the industrial park will expand and have more workers. The reason for the unsold boarding houses is that in the industrial park, some factories employ very few workers due to mechanization; companies with many workers have buses to pick up and drop off workers," Mr. Hoa added.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/hang-tram-day-tro-cong-nhan-o-nghe-an-vang-khach-10304877.html