In-depth
Boat people run out of jobs amid Covid-19 pandemic
  • | dtinews.vn | May 17, 2021 06:56 AM
Hundreds of tourist boats are being left idle while boat people struggle to find incomes at the UNESCO's Heritage Trang An Tourism Site in Ninh Binh Province.

  

Hundreds of tourist boats are being left idle amid Covid-19 pandemic at the UNESCO's Heritage Trang An Tourism Site in Ninh Binh Province.


After Ninh Binh People's Committee ordered all tourist spots to close in early May, all boat people in the area became unemployed. Earlier, because there were no international tourists and only a few domestic tourists, the boat people may only had one trip a month and couldn't afford daily expenses.

A boatman from Ninh Xuan Commune said he used to have three to five tour trip a month but now the boats were mostly left idle.

Nguyen Thi Hanh said she used to earn over VND4m (USD174) a month thanks to the boat but now both she and her husband have to do many odd jobs to earn money.

"We became porters, bricklayers and whatever we can do and earn about VND3m a month," she said.

Statistics from the Management Board of the Trang An Landscape Complex and Tam Coc-Bich Dong Complex show that over 3,000 boat people have become unemployed. Over 1,000 other boat people in different tourist spots like Thung Nham or Van Long Lake also became unemployed.

  

Empty boats in Ninh Binh


Ha Duc Kim, chairman of Ninh Xuan Commune People's Committee, said they had 700 unemployed boat people in the area.

"It's still unclear when the outbreak will be controlled so people can travel and work again. We will give career consultancy to the boat people so that they can other jobs," he said.

Hoang Van Hoan, vice chairman of Truong Yen Commune People's Committee, said there were 800 boat people in their commune.

"Some people have found jobs as bricklayers but the incomes are really not much," he said.

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