By Ian Maleve
Villagers in Hung Yen province, Vietnam, are expressing alarm over nominal compensation packages offered to them after being ordered to vacate farmland for a proposed $1.5 billion golf resort to be developed under the Trump brand.
Despite the sprawling 990-hectare site slated for luxury development, compensation proposals amounting to just $12 to $30 per square metre supplemented with rice provisions have sparked widespread outcry.
One such farmer, Nguyen Thi Huong, recounted sleepless nights since being told to cede her 200-square-metre plot an area smaller than a tennis court for barely $3,200, plus rice.
She voiced fears over losing her livelihood, especially given her age and limited alternatives for income generation. Her plight is echoed by many older villagers who have cultivated fruit crops, such as bananas and longan, for decades.
Although the Trump brand will operate the resort once completed, compensation responsibility falls on local authorities and developer Kinhbac City. The company licensed the Trump name for $5 million; the Trump family is not involved in compensation disputes or direct investment.
Villagers argue such modest payouts are particularly unfair given the private, profit-driven nature of the project.
Initially, compensation forecasts exceeded $500 million, but these expectations were later slashed by authorities. Documents reviewed by Reuters suggest final compensation decisions are expected next month, with some families receiving rice provisions for up to one year as part of the package.
While authorities insist the rates align with local benchmarks in some instances consistent with national compensation averages affected residents see little justice in exchanging generational homes for a few months’ worth of grain and insufficient monetary redress. Amid promises from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of “fair reimbursement,” villagers argue that such reassurances offer cold comfort when faced with the loss of lifetimes of labor and identity rooted in their land.
