Dust and smog fill the air at the Long Thanh Airport construction site in Binh Son Commune on Tuesday.
Construction began in 2021 for what will be Vietnam's largest airport, and for the past few months, progress has been speeded up so a terminal can be completed.
Locals of Long Thanh District have had to live with the resulting dust and smog for months.
Located at the heart of Binh Son Commune, the Binh Son Primary School is the location most affected by the dust. Teachers and students have to close doors and blinds for the entire day, yet dust still seeps in.
Ke, a security guard at the school, said dust cleanup is done every afternoon after the students leave.
"It's impossible to clean," he said. "The dust is everywhere and comes at all times. I don't know when this will end."
About a kilometer away from the construction site, the roof and garden of Nguyen Thi Cuc's family are also painted with the red dust.
"We have always supported national projects, but we hope the construction unit could have measures to prevent the dust from affecting lives and health," Cuc said.
A family has to buy giant nets to cover the front of their house to prevent the dust from getting in.
Layers of red dust can be seen covering a row of stores.
Locals said the dust first appeared in March 2022, but the amount has markedly increased over the past two months.
Nguyen Thi Anh, who sells rice noodles, has to use plastic bags to cover everything and protect them from the dust.
"In the afternoon, every gust would cause the dust to clog the sky," Anh said. "Many customers ran away even while eating, so I had to cover everything to keep the dust out. It's a way of learning to live with it."
Nguyen Dinh Ha said objects in the house are covered in plastic sheets, while tables and chairs have to be cleaned with water multiple times a day so customers can sit.
"For over the past month, the amount of dust has increased so much more than before, making customers come to our store less often," he said.
Even when they are located 7 kilometers away from the construction site, the lives of people in the Loc An-Binh Son relocation area are still severely impacted by the dust.
The Dong Nai People's Committee has requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to perform checks, requesting investors to make an environmental impact study, with measures to deal with the problem.
Dust from the Long Thanh Airport construction site also reduces vision for drivers on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay highway and the 769 provincial road.
The Long Thanh Airport project, spanning 5,000 ha, has an expected investment capital of around VND336.63 trillion ($14.3 billion). The first phase of the project includes construction of a runway, terminal and accompanying infrastructure, with a capacity for 25 million visitors a year. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
Do Tat Binh, head of the management board of the Long Thanh Airport project, said due to big gusts of wind and the dry season, more dust is being produced.
"We have requested construction units to spray water more [to keep the dust from spreading], but the measure has not been effective as the site area is too big," said Binh. "I hope people can understand and support this project."
Binh added that he will order a work suspension at night and will also reduce the rate of vehicles running at the construction site during the day.
