Lª thÞ lµi, nguyÔn thÞ h»ng

The craft-settlements V©n Chàng, Xu©n TiÕn and Tèng X¸ are three oldest typical mechanical production sites in Nam §Þnh province.

For the last 30 years, the administration of the province has paid much attention to the creation of equal and comfortable environment for developing private enterprises, especially for small firms and family producers. Productions in the craft settlements have been recovered and developed. The living condition of inhabitants has been gradually improved.

Besides the positive contribution to the dynamics of the economy, harmful impacts of different types of mechanical productions on the environment in the area are serious. Additionally, the low level of environmental awareness of people in craft -settlements have created more ecological and community health effects.

The aim of this paper is to give an overview about the general socio-economical facture of the craft settlements in the region as well as the special production situation in each settlement as basement for the further pollutant’s pathway study in the region. Additionally, the environmental impacts and human health are shortly summarized.

The results are largely based on statistical data from local authorities and from a questionnaire interview done in the time period from April 2001 to September 2001 (in V©n Chàng only).

The settlements are setting in the center of Red River delta with typical humid subtropical climate. Heavy rains brought on by the monsoon fall from May to September. The annual rainfall amount in Nam §Þnh is about 1,680 mm. 70 - 80 % of the total annual rainfall usually occurs in June, July and August. The annual temperature is about 23⁰C; the average monthly temperature of 16.6⁰C in January is the lowest and that of 28.8⁰C in July is the highest. The average monthly evaporation takes a range from 40 to 105 mm. The annual evaporation is about 970 mm.

V©n Chàng: with an area of circa 37 ha and 3428 inhabitants, V©n Chàng is the densest settlement in the region. Area for agricultural production is very limited, only ca. 32 ha (§ào Huy Quý et al, 2000). There are 612 households in the settlement, among them 583 family firms or small companies with iron and steel production.

The settlement is structured in different parallel small streets. Because of limited area, most of houses and apartments are very small, which are also used as production sites. In the settlement, there are no places for green plan. The canal V©n Chàng and many small ponds in the settlement are used as the main discharge sources for wastewater as well as for irrigation (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. V©n Chàng settlement

Xu©n TiÕn is about 40 km SE from Nam §Þnh City. With an area of about 200 ha, Xu©n TiÕn is the largest settlement in the region. There are 2250 households in the settlements, among them there are 1201 families that have small firms or private companies with casting and machinery production.

The settlement is well structured with concrete roads. However, green plan and trees are very rare here. There is a canal system running through the settlement for wastewater discharge and local transport (Fig.2).

Figure 2. Xu©n TiÕn settlement

Tèng X¸ is located about 60 km SW of Nam §Þnh City. There are 789 households in the settlement, but there are only 70 among them, that have small firms or private companies with craft production. The principle manufactures in the settlement are bronze and iron casting, smelting and plating. Because of the strong environmental impact in the settlements, the Commune People’s Committee has decided to move the most polluters into a new area that is located far from settlement. Since 1999, 25 casting companies are moved there.

Figure 3. Tèng X¸ settlement

The general facture of socio-economic situation is given in Tab. 1. The household survey results suggest that about 50% of family members are less than 4. The residents from the settlements are mainly engaged in craft manufacturing (ca. 90% in V©n Chàng, 70% in Xu©n TiÕn and 40 % in Tèng X¸). The other parts are engaged in agriculture, commerce or private service.

The population density in all three settlements is very high, with an average of 2900 people/km² (V©n Chàng 3400 people/ km², Xu©n TiÕn 2300/km² and Tèng X¸ 3000 /km²). Water sources for living and production of the target villages in the past were mainly rivers, lakes, ponds or deep wells, drilled wells or rainwater kept in tanks. Since 1999 (in V©n Chàng) and 2000 (in Xu©n TiÕn and Tèng X¸), all three settlements have had a clean water supply system. Electricity serving production and daily consumption is very good. However, a system of sewers and gutters for wastewater collecting and drainage has not been correctly planned and built in the three settlements. Solid wastes are not yet collected and there is no deposition area with suitable hygienic conditions.

The population studies in the settlements show the following age structure:

The relative amount of young people (less than 14 years) is still high, but not as high as in the 1980s, about 28%. This is a good signal, which proves that the birth rate is controlled in recent years. Family planning mission is implemented rather thoroughly.

The ratio of old people (over 60 years) is only about 10%.

The number of people from 15 to 59 years old accounts for 62%.

The life expectancy is in general 6-12 years less than the average life expectancy for the all country (55 years old for V©n Chàng, 59 years old for Tèng X¸ and 61 years old for Xu©n TiÕn, while the country average is about 72 years old).

The employment situation in the villages is much better than in the other regions without craft manufacturing. The young people have better chances to get a job here.

It is recognized that the number of old people and children (in school-age) occupies a big ratio. These people have weak resistance ability and suffer big influence from the outside environment, so they need much more care than the others in society. But with the current living - working environment condition in the settlements, it is difficult to ensure a normal development condition for them.

The statistics of the population structure by education show a recent increase in the expenditure for the education in the region. However, the educated level is quite low, only 20-40% of the interviewees have secondary school or higher education. There are a lot of children who have to stop going to school for different reasons. The children only try to finish the secondary school and then start to find a job to help their family. However, this situation is only temporary in the first period of marketing economy in the rural area.

The living standard varies quite significantly between the settlements, but it is normally higher than in the regions without craft working trade. Due to the development of the production in V©n Chàng, Xu©n TiÕn and Tèng X¸, the living condition of people is considerably improved. 100% of the families have a solid-built house, the number of poor household (according to Vietnamese standard) is decreasing rapidly. Not only the material life but also the cultural life of the inhabitants is noticeable upgraded. Nearly 100% of the household has radio, cassette player, 90% has television (watching television is one of the most popular leisure time activities in all three settlements). The average telephone per 100 people is 5.32, much higher in comparison with 3.13 of the whole country; 3.42 of Red River delta and 1.28 of Nam §Þnh Province.

The craft manufacturing in Nam §Þnh, especially bronze and silver casting, has a long tradition (in Tèng X¸ since 1200, in Xu©n TiÕn since 1535 and in V©n Chàng since 1868). The characteristic facture of the production in the settlements are given in Table 2.

Xu©n TiÕn is one of the most well structured and organized craft settlements of Nam §Þnh province. But like in V©n Chàng, there still is no treatment system for wastewater and no sanitary landfills for solid waste. There are more than 1300 family production sites and small companies with bronze casting and mechanical manufacturing. The outputs per year are about 351 tons of bronze casting products and about 29000 mechanical product units. Since 2002, a new business area has been built, and many small companies are moving here. Due to the well organized production area, the productivity is remarkably increasing.

Tèng X¸ is a settlement most known for bronze and iron casting in the Red River delta with 70 production sites, among them there are 25 big iron casting companies. The requirement for the use of raw material in Tèng X¸ is about 50 tons iron and steel, 1 ton bronze and 0.5 ton aluminium, as well as 20 tons coal and 1 ton oil per day. The total income of the settlement is about 16 billion VND per year. There is no treatment system for wastewater.

The result of a questionnaire interview with the habitants in the V©n Chàng settlement shows the following opinions about the importance of various components for their lives: Most consider health as the most important components (81.4%); income follows by 66.2 %, and a clean environment is thought to be the most important by 62.2% of the interviewees. Only 0.2 % of them think that health is not important, while 2.4% have the same opinion about income, and 2.2% about clean environment.

In recent years, the inhabitants of the settlements have to recognize their low awareness to the living and working environment by expressing that high income cannot compensate all the damage to their own families and the community. So, recent activities of the local administration to improve the environment are approved and initiated. 90% of the interviewed people have accepted the plan to design a wastewater treatment system. 61% interviewees are prioritizing that the environment protection has to be at the top.

Figure 4. Typical production processing

 A dangerous threat to human health in the region is environmental pollution. The statistics from local health service show that the environment impacts on human health are serious (Tab. 4). In V©n Chàng and Tèng X¸ 40-60% of all children’s diseases (most bronchitis and asthma) are estimated to be a result of air pollution. General respiratory diseases have increased during the recent years, especially lung cancer. All these symptoms are positively associated with exposures of different production processes in the settlements. Furthermore, both water-borne diseases and water-washed diseases are urgent problems in all three areas.

Water-borne diseases such as infections and parasitic diseases of gastro-enteritis amoebic, bacillus dysentery and hepatitis are very prevalent in the area. Menace of cholera always exists because of poor sanitation. However, deaths by diarrhoea diseases are not noted here.

Diseases caused by shortage of clean water, such as skin diseases, gynaecological infection and trachoma are highly prevalent in the area. Contact with contaminated water is very frequent in the inhabitants’ life. Therefore, it is an evident necessary to use clean water for bathing and washing off chemicals and heavy metals. In all three settlements, 35 to 90% of women had gynaecological infection. There are several possible reasons for high prevalence of gynaecological infection, such as:

1. Using contaminated water for bath and wash
2. Being too busy to bath well.
3. Unhygienic labor conditions of women in the production sites.
4. Lacking of private bathrooms and toilets for women.

The opportunity for women to bath well with clean water is necessary to reduce gynaecological infection.

A clean environment, a hygienic production condition and enhancement of health education and of environmental awareness are essential for control of diseases.

Table 4. Prevalence of diseases in the villages

(+) Stands for: (+) rarely; (++) occasionally; (+++) regularly;

(++++) frequently; (+++++) very frequently

Craft manufacturing plays an important role in the economical and social development in rural region of ViÖt Nam, especially in the period of the market economy. There is no point denying the positive part of craft production activities in Nam §Þnh province in providing local habitants with jobs, increasing the annual budget of the commune and the province, improving the living condition of the people and generally, contributing to the social development. However, it is necessary to have a sustainable planning to keep the appropriate balance of each member and of the whole community in production, benefit and environment. Heritage and enhancement of the traditional craft production in Nam §Þnh are therefore the big issue.

In order to ensure a sustainable development of the craft settlements in the future, specific actions for improving the production condition and for a healthy environment must be proposed.