Following the merger of Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces, a female civil servant at the Quang Tri Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism is among the more than 1,300 people who had to relocate to the new administrative center in Dong Hoi. With her home over 100 km away and no public housing provided, she decided to rent a room with a colleague.

The 20-square-meter room, with a corrugated iron roof and a mezzanine, is located in a one-story house two km from the administrative center. They pooled their money to buy an air conditioner, refrigerator, induction cooker, and wardrobe. Compared to her own house, the room is cramped, but she "feels lucky to have found a reasonable rent of 1.5 million VND per month." In the initial days after the merger, thousands of people from the former Quang Tri province flocked to Dong Hoi (the capital of Quang Binh province), leading to a housing shortage.

Every Monday at 4:30 a.m., she hires a motorbike taxi or gets a ride to the center of Dong Ha town to catch a bus, arriving at the administrative center in Dong Hoi around 7 a.m. A sleeper bus ticket costs 120,000 VND, while a regular seat costs 80,000 VND each way. She naps on the bus, arriving at work a little after 7 a.m. On Friday afternoons, she takes the bus back home.

"My family life has completely changed. Before, I could commute daily, pick up my children from school, and cook. Now, I have to rely on their grandparents because my husband also works far away. In the evenings, I video call to help my children with their homework," she said.

Despite the disruption, she has no plans to move closer to her workplace. Land prices in Dong Hoi have surged after the merger, and selling her house wouldn't cover half the cost of a similar new one. With a civil servant salary of over 10 million VND, after deducting 800,000 VND for weekend travel and rent, there's nothing left to save. Her husband's job and her children's education are currently stable.

"I miss my husband and children terribly at night in the rented room, but I have to accept it," she said.

A boarding house in Tan Hanh ward, Vinh Long province, rented by many officials from the former Tra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces after the merger. Photo: An Binh

A boarding house in Tan Hanh ward, Vinh Long province, rented by many officials from the former Tra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces after the merger. Photo: An Binh

Renting rooms is a common solution for civil servants relocated to new offices far from their previous workplaces, 60 km or more. After the merger of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh with Vinh Long, an official from the former Ben Tre province explained that due to personal circumstances and work often finishing at 7-8 p.m., he couldn't use the provided shuttle buses scheduled for 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.

Initially, he rode his motorbike 65 km each way, following National Highway 60 to National Highway 53, then crossing the Dinh Khao ferry to reach Vinh Long's center. However, the long, arduous journey, especially in bad weather, affected his health and work. After about 10 days, he rented a room for 1.2 million VND per month.

"The 12-square-meter room is very inconvenient compared to my house. But after a few days of organizing it with a small computer desk, a mini bookshelf, a clothes rack, a single mattress, and a small gas stove for cooking, the space looks alright," the man in his 50s said. He leaves his home in Ben Tre town every week to work in Vinh Long, returning on Friday evenings.

Sharing carpool costs

After the merger, over 1,800 civil servants from the former Quang Nam province relocated to Da Nang. With a second-grader and a preschooler, and no family nearby to help, a civil servant at the Da Nang Department of Home Affairs chose to commute daily, despite the 70 km distance between her home in Thach Ban ward and the administrative center in Da Nang.

For convenience, she and 15 other civil servants contracted a 16-seat bus for daily transport at a cost of 2 million VND per person per month, about 20% of their monthly salary. Every day, she wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare lunch, arriving at the pick-up point on Hung Vuong Street, over one km from her home, by 6 a.m. After an hour and 40 minutes, the bus reaches the Da Nang administrative center, just in time for work at 7:30 a.m.

"I usually buy bread, corn, sticky rice, etc., for breakfast on the bus, and then I try to get some sleep," she said. At 5:30 p.m., after work, the 16 commuters gather in front of the administrative building for the return trip to Quang Nam at 7:30 p.m. "With the long commute, family dinners aren't as complete as before, as the children have to eat earlier," she shared, adding that the disrupted routine and lack of sleep have caused her to lose almost 2 kg.

A bus transports officials from Ben Tre to Vinh Long province daily. Photo: An Binh

Similarly, since Can Tho hasn't arranged transportation for civil servants working far from home, and public housing renovations are expected to be completed only by the middle of next year, most civil servants from the former Soc Trang and Hau Giang provinces are covering their own accommodation and travel expenses to work in Can Tho's new center.

For over a month, a group of 29 civil servants from the former Soc Trang province, now working in Can Tho, have been sharing the cost of a bus for the 120 km commute. Every day, they gather at the former Soc Trang Department of Agriculture and Environment building on Hung Vuong Street. The bus departs at 5 a.m., dropping off civil servants at various locations, reaching the final destination around 7 a.m.

In the afternoon, the bus begins pick-ups at 5 p.m. and returns to the starting point around 7 p.m. The round-trip cost per person is 100,000 VND. Anyone not traveling must notify the group a day in advance to receive a refund.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Chief of the Can Tho People's Committee Office, and her husband (who works at the Can Tho Land Registration Office) travel on this bus. They have two young children about to enter 4th and 6th grade. "Every day, my husband and I wake up at 4:30 a.m. and take about 10 minutes to ride our motorbike to the bus pick-up point. For now, our children are being looked after by relatives, but we will make other arrangements later," she said.

Government support policies

To address the challenges of commuting and accommodation for civil servants, local governments have collaborated with businesses to implement several solutions. For instance, Quang Tri province partnered with the railway sector to establish a daily passenger train service between Dong Ha and Dong Hoi stations from Monday to Friday, while Gia Lai province organized daily shuttle buses. However, due to the long distances, excessive travel time, and multiple transfers, these options proved unpopular and were discontinued.

Learning from these experiences, localities have adopted more flexible approaches. The immediate solution involves providing financial assistance to civil servants, with long-term plans for constructing public housing. The Quang Tri People's Committee has submitted a proposal to the People's Council to provide a monthly living allowance of 3 million VND and a travel allowance of 1 million VND to those not yet allocated public housing. Those in public housing will receive a monthly living allowance of 1 million VND.

At the commune level, civil servants whose commute to the new office is 50 km or more in lowland areas, or 40 km or more in mountainous or border areas, will receive a monthly living allowance of 1 million VND. This policy will be implemented for two years, starting 1/7, with a total budget of 120 billion VND. The Quang Tri People's Council is expected to approve this policy on the afternoon of 14/8.

At the end of July, the Vinh Long People's Council approved a two-year support policy for civil servants working far from home, with a total budget of 237 billion VND. Over 2,470 civil servants from the former Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces, now working in Vinh Long, will receive approximately 4 million VND per person per month to cover travel, rent, and living expenses.

Can Tho is finalizing a support policy for approximately 2,300 civil servants from the former Hau Giang and Soc Trang provinces, providing 4 million VND per month for travel and rent for two years. Dong Nai province is allocating nearly 99 billion VND to support 1,387 officials from Binh Phuoc, with each person receiving a maximum of 33 million VND over six months for rent and travel.

Similarly, Lam Dong province approved a support package of over 68 billion VND for over 1,800 officials. Each person will receive an initial 10 million VND, followed by 2 million VND per month for travel and 3 million VND per month for rent, for up to 12 months. An Giang and Dong Thap provinces are also providing support to relocated officials, ranging from 5 to 5.1 million VND per month.

Meanwhile, Gia Lai province has shifted its approach. After two pilot programs, the province discontinued its shuttle bus service and now provides officials with 6 million VND per month – 2 million VND for travel and 4 million VND for rent – for two years.

A different approach has been adopted in Ho Chi Minh City, which offers free shuttle buses for officials from Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau. After an initial period of low usage, ridership doubled in the third week of July compared to the previous week. A total of 5,064 bus trips were organized, including over 2,700 from Binh Duong and over 2,300 from Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Dac Thanh - An Binh