The Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sportsand Tourism will invest 3 billion VND (144,000 USD) next year to combattermites that have been damaging historic houses in Hoi An ancient townin central Quang Nam province for a long time.
Thisdecision was made after initial investments in termite and insecteradication had shown positive results in recent years, said Nguyen DucMinh, deputy director of the Centre for Hoi An Cultural HeritageConservation and Management.
According to researchconducted earlier this year by the Institute for Termite Control andBuilding Protection on 1,521 buildings in Hoi An, a majority of thebuildings have some level of termite problem. Specifically, on theless-damaged end of the spectrum, 31 percent of the buildings have sometermite damage but have not been severely affected, while on thehighly-damaged spectrum, 20 percent are severely damaged and mightcollapse.
Out of the 1,521 buildings studied, 40 werecivic cultural establishments and more than 1,000 are old private homes.The rest are schools and other public buildings.
Similarresearch conducted on 126 houses in Hanoi 's Old Quarter in 2005revealed that 85 percent of the houses were affected by termites.
Nguyen Tan Vuong, deputy director of the Institute for Termite Controland Building Protection said that although people in the past were awareof the need to prevent and kill off termites, the measures taken todeal with them were too simple.
"Because termites damage buildings silently, regular care should be given," he said.
However, working out a suitable solution to tackle the problem is not simple at all, he said.
"We have to find ways to preserve buildings while making sure themeasures do not pose a threat to the environment and taking into accountsocial factors, including the welfare of people living in or near thebuildings."
Minh agreed, saying dealing with the pests isdifficult as there are more than one hundred species of termites onearth and there were different ways to kill them.
He addedthat some chemicals, which could be used to exterminate termites, aredangerous to the environment and people, and are not good for thebuildings themselves in the long run.
"Some privatetermite control companies do not care much about the effects of sprayson the environment and they often use old techniques which are notenvironmentally-friendly," said Vuong.
Financial limitations can also be an issue for termite researchers.
Several projects are in the works to solve the termite problem.
One is a three-year project to eliminate termites from Hoi An ancienttown and its environs which will begin at the end of this year or nextyear.
This project is expected to cost more than 40billion VND (1.92 million USD) and is currently awaiting approval fromthe Prime Minister, Minh said.
Another is an investigationproject to seek methods for dealing with termites at three Vietnameseworld heritage sites – Hoi An Ancient Town, the My Son Sanctuary, andHue imperial City.
The projects will be led by theInstitute for Termite Control and Building Protection and draw theparticipation of local historic building management agencies and otherresearch institutes./.
Thisdecision was made after initial investments in termite and insecteradication had shown positive results in recent years, said Nguyen DucMinh, deputy director of the Centre for Hoi An Cultural HeritageConservation and Management.
According to researchconducted earlier this year by the Institute for Termite Control andBuilding Protection on 1,521 buildings in Hoi An, a majority of thebuildings have some level of termite problem. Specifically, on theless-damaged end of the spectrum, 31 percent of the buildings have sometermite damage but have not been severely affected, while on thehighly-damaged spectrum, 20 percent are severely damaged and mightcollapse.
Out of the 1,521 buildings studied, 40 werecivic cultural establishments and more than 1,000 are old private homes.The rest are schools and other public buildings.
Similarresearch conducted on 126 houses in Hanoi 's Old Quarter in 2005revealed that 85 percent of the houses were affected by termites.
Nguyen Tan Vuong, deputy director of the Institute for Termite Controland Building Protection said that although people in the past were awareof the need to prevent and kill off termites, the measures taken todeal with them were too simple.
"Because termites damage buildings silently, regular care should be given," he said.
However, working out a suitable solution to tackle the problem is not simple at all, he said.
"We have to find ways to preserve buildings while making sure themeasures do not pose a threat to the environment and taking into accountsocial factors, including the welfare of people living in or near thebuildings."
Minh agreed, saying dealing with the pests isdifficult as there are more than one hundred species of termites onearth and there were different ways to kill them.
He addedthat some chemicals, which could be used to exterminate termites, aredangerous to the environment and people, and are not good for thebuildings themselves in the long run.
"Some privatetermite control companies do not care much about the effects of sprayson the environment and they often use old techniques which are notenvironmentally-friendly," said Vuong.
Financial limitations can also be an issue for termite researchers.
Several projects are in the works to solve the termite problem.
One is a three-year project to eliminate termites from Hoi An ancienttown and its environs which will begin at the end of this year or nextyear.
This project is expected to cost more than 40billion VND (1.92 million USD) and is currently awaiting approval fromthe Prime Minister, Minh said.
Another is an investigationproject to seek methods for dealing with termites at three Vietnameseworld heritage sites – Hoi An Ancient Town, the My Son Sanctuary, andHue imperial City.
The projects will be led by theInstitute for Termite Control and Building Protection and draw theparticipation of local historic building management agencies and otherresearch institutes./.
