While millions of residents in the Cuu Long Delta eagerly await the opening of Can Tho Bridge, around 600 people making their livelihoods by operating ferries . . .

While millions of residents in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta eagerly await the opening of Can Tho Bridge, around 600 people making their livelihoods by operating ferries and motorbike taxis and vending cooking anxiously look for a new job.

Transport plan to get Mekong Delta moving

Southeast Asia’s longest bridge opens in April

Cars exit the ferry to enter Can Tho City Ferry runners will be among those people who will economically suffer once the Can Tho Bridge opens.

The bridge, which spans over the Hau River linking Vinh Long with Can Tho, is expected to boost the development of the entire region by easing the flow of traffic on the national highway.

But its inauguration on the 24th of this month will mean the ferry system that carried people and vehicles for nearly 100 years since the time of the French colonialists will no longer be needed. It will mean the 303 people working for the Hau Giang Ferry Group will become redundant.

But Phan Quang Du, director of the ferry operator, told Viet Nam News that the group would be transformed into a company and take over the management and operation of the bridge, retaining around 200 of its staff.

Around 40 captains, pilots, and mechanics will be transferred along with their ferries to other places but Du said the destinations have not been identified yet. The group has three 12-16-tonne, seven 100-tonne, and eight 200-tonne ferries.

The remaining 77 people will be categorized into two groups – those who have worked for two years or less and those who are aged above 50.

The former will not have their contracts renewed and will be paid compensation as regulated by the law while the latter will go into early retirement and be paid pensions. The retirement age in Viet Nam is 60 for men and 55 for women.

Of the 200 who will be retained, those having educational qualifications relevant their jobs will receive quick training and start working soon. Others will be trained to meet the requirement of their jobs.

“Salaries are expected to be higher in the new company,” Du said.

Unemployment

Motorbike taxi drivers on the two banks said they would be out of jobs since they are not allowed to ply their trade anywhere else in the two cities.

“I have no idea about my future,” Mai Van Vu, 51, a driver at the Can Tho end, said.

“I have to train myself in something else to ensure a daily income of VND80,000 for the sake of my two sons, one of whom is still in high school and the other who has just graduated and is unemployed.

“I’m happy to see the bridge but am so worried about my future.”

Nguyen Thanh Den, 58, deputy head of the motorbike taxi association No 1 and who is also based on the Can Tho side, said there are no plans to assist 110 drivers who are members of association No 1 and 120 others who are in association No 2.

“Authorities in Cai Khe Ward have no plans to save us and 330 drivers will have no jobs because we cannot park our bikes and wait for passengers anywhere else in the city.

“Each location like bus station, market, and alley has its own association.

Doan Ba Thao, a driver on the Vinh Long side where the ferry station is situated in Cai Von Town, said: “I have no land for cultivation and the whole family lives on my earnings, but now I have no way to earn anything.”

Others shared his concern, adding that though the town authorities have provided them access to subsidised loans, many are reluctant to borrow since they do not know what to use it for.

Authorities have said providing them access to credit is the only way to help them.

Tran Thi Thu Hang, who runs a small coffee shop and a cigarette stand on the Vinh Long side, said: “I will go around and sell lottery tickets because the road leading to the ferry station will be a dead-end.”

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News