Thousands of traders in Hanoi's Gia Lam District have kept their children off school since December 21 as part of protests against a proposed shopping centre project which will take a parking area near the communal markets.
Ninh Hiep Secondary School
On December 21, about 700 pupils from Ninh Hiep Primary School and Ninh Hiep Secondary School did not attend school.
Thousands of people, including the pupils, gathered in front of the headquarters of Ninh Hiep Commune's People's Committee to protest against the decision to hand over a 2,640-square-metres of land to the shopping centre project developers.
The local authorities and the school administrators successfully persuaded some parents to let their children to go to school later the same day. On the next day, only a few dozen out of 900 pupils turned up for classes at Ninh Hiep Secondary School, and only 100 out of 1,600 primary pupils attended school.
Hoang Viet Cuong, head of Gia Lam District's Education and Training Department, said a large number of children had gone with their parents to the protest. The authorities were still trying to persuade the parents so that the children's studies will not be affected.
Traders are keeping their children from school to pressurise the local authorities.
Nguyen Hiep Thong, vice head of Hanoi Department of Education and Training said, "It's not right if parents are using their children as a way to lobby for their cause."
Hoang Anh Tu, head of Gia Lam District's Office said, "Vinh Phat DTI Company's shopping centre project was approved by Hanoi People's Committee back in 2013. The investor has fulfilled all of their commitments. The district people's committee and Hanoi police are working to find a solution to this problem."
According to the locals, there are already two shopping centres near Ninh Hiep and Nanh markets and the giving away of the land which is currently used for parking for the markets will affect their businesses.
Hoang Anh Tu, head of Gia Lam District's Office, said they had tried to explain that the authorities were not going to shut down or reduce the size of the market. The authorities also planned to build another 6,000 square-metre parking lot.
