In spite of being given much preference in building infrastructure, the Nhon Chau island still faces many difficulties. Whenever possible, thus, its local residents always try to leave for the mainland in pursuit of a better life.
 |
|
Waiting for their relatives
|
Leaving to earn living
With dogged determination, we dared to get into the fragile boat to leave for the Nhon Chau island. It took two hours and a half for us to get there even though it is only 12 sea miles far from Quy Nhon city.
Contrary to our thoughts, the Nhon Chau’s infrastructure is quite new with many two-or three-storey houses built along the edge of the island.
The island has an area of 24.5 s.q km with the population of 2,400 of which 80 percent earn their living by go fishing.
Last year saw the crop failures, causing a low yield. The 2009’s output reached 920 tons, a considerable decrease compared with previous years.
The cause of the issue is that most fishing vessels are too small for offshore fishing. Alongside this, their fishing zone is usually dominated by neighboring provinces’ fishermen who use explosives to catch fish.
Many want to build bigger vessels to go fishing offshore, but they couldn’t afford it while they also have no property as security for bank loans.
Unstable income and difficulties in travelling from Quy Nhon to the island cause many local residents, particularly young people, to leave the island to earn their living.
When does their worry end?
Staying on the island for several days, we found that its local residents are afraid of the winter, the time for heavy seas and storms. If there are any storms, their fishing boats couldn’t be moored in the island. The locals will face the shortage of food at that time as 90 percent of necessities are bought from the mainland.
In 2007, for example, the heavy sea lasted for 20 days, causing the severe shortage of food on the island. Fortunately, border soldiers provided the local with their rice.
Learning from the experience, the local authorities asked the municipal and provincial People’s Committees to allow the commune to reserve 15 tons of rice in the winter in case of such bad situations.
They also asked for the construction of a medical clinic and more doctors in the winter, aiming to deal with severe patients who couldn’t be hospitalized in the mainland during the heavy seas.
An enterprise once intended to invest in a high-speed vessel to help the islanders easily travel; however, this couldn’t come true owing to their low demand for travelling.
Before the traffic system is improved, the Nhon Chau’s residents still have to spend several hours travelling on sea when they want to go to Quy Nhon and return home. This also means that they are not able to end their worry about heavy seas in the winter.
| 
