The Son La hydro plant was built during 2005-2012, and it was stated that its completion was two years earlier than it had been set in the plan. Quick preparations for the resettlement and short time for calculation and disbursement of compensation were the main factors contributing to the earlier completion of the construction. | In agricultural or rural resettlement areas, shortage of cultivable land is even more serious than in non-agricultural resettled areas. Land, or basic production tools to ensure stable livelihood is always a precarious issue everywhere in the displaced areas. This statement is clearly expressed by a Noong Luong village elder: “We are facing a lot of difficulties if you look and understand what is inside the community. Though the outside appearance, .: road, employment as laborers, school, etc. looks good, a critical issue is that we really lack land for cultivation. Land in the old village is now submerged; we cannot grow maize there. We would like to raise goats but there is no land available to do so”. Another aspect of the shortage of cultivable land is the quality of the land that allows resettled people to continue the production of what they used to grow in the former village. A villager from Hé 2 village of Mường Chiên commune, Quynh Nhai district said: “we are not happy at all with our living conditions in this new relocation area. We see that our life is harder. Today we only have one crop of rice with an unproductive yield, instead of two crops per year before resettlement”. Moreover, it is not easy for resettled people to find jobs and alternative income sources in order to compensate for the land shortage. A Hoa Quỳnh villager in Hat Lot commune, Mai Son district stated: “We only have 8,000 to 9,000 m
