"Workers' Street" Le Xa

Village looks like city

“20 years ago, when we entered Le Xa village at around 8-9 pm, it was quiet. Every house had its door closed and bolted to go to bed early. But now, after midnight, the village is still lit up. The road leading to the village is bustling with people. Shops and restaurants have sprung up side by side,” said Mr. Trinh Dinh Day, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Le Xa village. Mr. Day said that when Phuc Dien Industrial Park was formed, Le Xa welcomed workers from many different places in and outside the province to settle down and make a living, and the “workers’ street” gradually formed from there.

In Le Xa village, there are few people still doing agriculture. Nearly 90% of the villagers do business and provide services. As the fields gradually give way to factories and enterprises, the people of Le Xa are no longer dirty-footed and dirty-handed, but have become real traders.

Taking advantage of the time when the workers have not finished their shift, Ms. Vu Thi Ly, the owner of one of the largest fruit stalls in Le Xa village, rearranges the stall, displaying large and small fruit shelves in preparation for the busiest selling hours of the day. Ms. Ly said that in the past, she was busy working in the fields all day, but now she is only busy from 4 p.m. to 8-9 p.m. This is when the workers get off work and go home. Ms. Ly has quit farming and sold fruit for more than 17 years, so now she no longer has cracked heels or rotten nails, and she paints her toenails and fingernails, and her skin is more beautiful. "The important thing is that it's not just working in the fields all day, but the income is much higher," Ms. Ly said.

The much higher income that Ms. Ly shared is evidenced by the average income per capita of Le Xa in 2023 reaching nearly 80 million VND/person, higher than the average of the province (the province is more than 60 million VND/person) and is also the village with the highest average income per capita in the commune. The change from village to city in Le Xa is most evident in the past ten years.

If 19 years ago, the whole village of Le Xa only had 1-2 grocery stores, now there are more than 100 stores. Many stores sell clothes and sell well, investing in a warehouse system that is no different from a supermarket. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuoi, a resident of Le Xa said: "If before, near Tet, I had to take my children to Ghe market in Tan Truong commune to buy new clothes and shoes, now everything is available in the village. You can buy goods just by leaving the gate."

Le Xa village is also the place with the second highest density of workers and laborers in the province at present. According to Mr. Vu Manh Huy, Chairman of Cam Phuc Commune People's Committee, Le Xa currently has about 400 households with 2,000 people, the number of workers and laborers staying here is 3 times more. Le Xa is also the place with the most workers' boarding houses in Cam Giang district.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Bang, the owner of nearly 20 boarding houses, affirmed: “Many people call Le Xa "workers' street" because from early morning until late afternoon, you can feel the bustling atmosphere here. Just a few dozen meters into the village, there are hundreds of shops and stores. In the evening, from the Phuc Dien overpass, you can look down at the whole Le Xa village, which is brightly lit. Urban life in Le Xa is not only reflected in the increasing income of the people, but also the pace of life has become more hurried.”

There are many workers living here. In addition to the development of services and trade, there are also families in Le Xa who open private kindergartens. Private kindergartens are established to meet the needs of workers. In addition to the public kindergarten of the commune, Le Xa village alone has 2 private kindergartens: Sao Mai and Hoa Sua.

Coming from Sai Dong Industrial Park (Hanoi) to Le Xa to rent a room and work at Fuji Vietnam Co., Ltd., Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngát did not see any difference between Le Xa village and Sai Dong ward, where she rented a room before. Ms. Ngát said: “Le Xa is like a real neighborhood. Here, there are all kinds of services from food, beauty to car wash, financial consulting.”

From farmers with muddy hands and feet, now Le Xa people are as good at business and trading as city dwellers. They know how to get goods from big enterprises, buy directly from the source, and sell cheaply to workers. Many families have prospered thanks to workers, having enough money to build houses, buy cars, and even buy a few more plots of land in the Ghe urban area in Tan Truong commune nearby.

Many challenges

The development of Phuc Dien Industrial Park along with the increasing number of workers and laborers renting accommodation in Le Xa has helped hundreds of households here benefit from the food business, restaurants, entertainment, renting out houses, motels, etc. However, with so much gain comes a lot of worry. Le Xa is sometimes suffocating due to the pressure of a large population and social evils. The transportation system and public works are sometimes overloaded. In the early morning, it is easy to see the road to the village about 3m wide crowded with workers and laborers going to work. The hustle and bustle of life makes the lives of people here stuffy, uncomfortable and especially the noise pollution.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, over 80 years old, said that nearly 20 years ago, Le Xa village was peaceful, waking up early in the morning to hear birds chirping and roosters crowing. Now, instead, there is the loud honking of workers going to work, and even in the middle of the night, there is still loud music from restaurants and eateries... "The changes in Le Xa have brought higher income to the people, but in return, we also have to face the negative aspects of these changes," said Mr. Tuan.

As the mechanical population increases rapidly, especially with more and more workers renting houses, social evils and security and order are also issues that give the Cam Phuc commune government a headache. Thefts and drug cases in the boarding houses here appear more frequently. At the end of December, at the boarding house of Mr. Ho Van Dinh in Le Xa village, the Cam Phuc commune police force caught red-handed 4 subjects from Muong So commune, Phong Tho district (Lai Chau) storing and illegally supplying drugs to the boarding house workers. Previously, many law violations related to drugs, property theft, and prostitution were also discovered and cracked down by the Cam Phuc commune and Cam Giang district police.

The small area while the population density is high makes the amount of wastewater and waste in Le Xa many times more than before. The stuffiness and claustrophobia increases every summer. The heat from the roofs close together, from the air conditioners constantly blowing while the amount of trees is small makes the air in the village even more stuffy.

Faced with these challenges, Cam Phuc commune has proactively implemented many measures to support Le Xa village. The commune has soon established the model of "Businesses and boarding houses safe in terms of security and order" to grasp the situation and maintain security and order. Determining that this is a complex area in terms of security and order, inspection, control, and information gathering are carried out regularly. Many boarding house owners in Le Xa are also regularly trained and instructed on measures to prevent and combat crime, build inter-family fire prevention and fighting teams, etc.

Le Xa village will become more and more vibrant when there is still much room for development in Phuc Dien industrial park. The number of workers staying in Le Xa as well as many other places in Cam Phuc commune will continue to increase when social housing areas here have not yet been formed. The changing face of the countryside in Le Xa is proof of the impact of industry on the village.