The boatman did not want to sign the contract.
On July 8, Trang An Investment - Trade - Service Company Limited (the unit managing and exploiting Tam Coc - Bich Dong Tourist Area) announced the temporary suspension of Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area to repair and upgrade works and items in the tourist area.
Tam Coc - Bich Dong has stopped operating for nearly 2 months, leaving boats exposed to the dew.
However, according to the reporter's investigation, the main reason for the suspension of operations is that the company and the boatmen could not agree on signing a labor contract.
A person who has been rowing boats for many years in Van Lam village said that since the 90s of the last century, the people of Van Lam village started rowing boats to take tourists to visit the famous landscapes along the Ngo Dong River. Gradually, Tam Coc - Bich Dong became known to many domestic and foreign tourists, who flocked here and became a famous tourist area.
"Previously, the people of Van Lam village saw that many people wanted to visit, so they built rowing boats to serve them and took wages. Over the past 30 years, rowing boats has become a regular source of income for hundreds of local people. In addition to transporting passengers, the people of Ninh Hai commune also row boats along the Ngo Dong River, deep inside to plant and harvest rice. Now that the enterprise has taken over the management, they ask us to sign labor contracts, but we think it is unreasonable so we have not agreed," said a resident of Van Lam village.
Hundreds of boat rowers have been unemployed for nearly 2 months.
More than 10 years ago, Xuan Truong Construction Company was authorized to manage and operate Tam Coc - Bich Dong Tourist Area. Since then, tourists who want to visit by boat along Ngo Dong River must buy tickets. Part of the ticket sales are paid to the boatmen, the rest is collected by the company. Currently, the management and operation of Tam Coc - Bich Dong Tourist Area is Trang An Investment - Trade - Service Company Limited.
Mr. Dinh Van Dap (72 years old, living in Van Lam village) said: "I am 72 years old this year but I am still rowing a boat. Most of the boatmen are old, the shortest are over 60 years old, the tallest are nearly 80 years old. Tam Coc ferry has been around for more than 40 years. We have not signed the contract because we do not think it is reasonable. The reason for the temporary suspension of the tourist area is because the business has stopped. It has been nearly 2 months since the ferry has stopped, we are very upset."
According to Mr. Dap, currently, on average, each family can only ferry 4-5 trips per month, with an income of 150,000 VND/trip. Thus, in reality, each month, people only row 5 days, the remaining days they do other work to ensure their lives. "Now the company requires signing a contract to work 24 days a month, 8 hours a day. While in reality, people only row the boat for 5 days, what do they do for the remaining 20 days? They cannot go hoe the land and plant trees for them. So we have not agreed to sign a labor contract," said Mr. Dap.
Many people also think that the environment and the river are natural resources, national resources, and the people pay for the ferry themselves, so why do they have to sign a contract to be bound by time?
Big impact if not back to work soon
On August 30, speaking with Thanh Nien reporter, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tan, Deputy Director of Ninh Binh Department of Tourism, said that as of August 30, boat rowing activities in Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area still could not operate normally, even though the business had announced that it would resume operations from August 21.
Many foreign tourists came but had to turn back because Tam Coc - Bich Dong was paralyzed.
"After the business announced its temporary suspension on July 8, we asked the business to resume operations. On August 21, it announced its reopening, but it still could not serve tourists because it had not been able to carry out the boat rowing service," said Mr. Tan.
According to Mr. Tan, in the past, the local government and functional units have repeatedly come to propagate, mobilize, dialogue, and meet with the people but have not yet received consensus from the boatmen. Most boatmen still do not want to sign contracts because they are afraid of being bound by time, the contract only lasts for 1 year and due to a number of other reasons.
"We also learned about the village's conventions, which have very humane points, such as single people, the disabled, and poor households will be given priority to be assigned boat numbers (rowing numbers - PV) to have a livelihood, a job, and income. But to move towards a quality tourism industry, ensuring regulations, there must be regulations on mutual responsibility to avoid uncivilized and uncultured things happening in tourist areas, so there needs to be a contract to have responsibility and commitment to each other to work towards a better tourism environment," said Mr. Tan.
The implementation of signing labor contracts between businesses and boatmen in Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area is not a new implementation. It has been done many times before but did not receive consensus from the people so it had to be stopped.
Hundreds of people's boats have been sunbathing on the river for nearly 2 months.
According to Mr. Tan, the recent paralysis of Tam Coc - Bich Dong has greatly affected the tourism image of Ninh Binh in general and the tourist area in particular. In particular, Tam Coc - Bich Dong is located in the Trang An heritage complex, a tourist route that has left a great impression on domestic and international visitors.
Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area is located in the Trang An heritage complex. At this tourist area, there are currently more than 600 boats paid by local people to transport tourists. When visiting by boat, tourists must buy tickets organized by Trang An Investment - Trade - Service Company Limited. The ticket price currently being collected for Vietnamese tourists is 630,000 VND/trip (carrying 4 tourists); of which, the boatman pays 150,000 VND/trip, the remaining 480,000 VND is collected by the enterprise; for foreign tourists, the ticket price is 390,000 VND/trip (carrying 2 tourists), of which the boatman pays 150,000 VND/trip, the enterprise collects 240,000 VND/trip.
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