Anh Son: The paths of the people's hearts

(Baonghean) - The Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee issued Directive 25 on May 28, 2014, on "strengthening leadership and guidance in the maintenance and repair of rural roads." During the implementation of the directive, thanks to effective public relations work, Anh Son has leveraged the internal resources of the people, creating a clean, beautiful, and well-maintained rural landscape…

Maintenance and repair of rural roads in Hoa Son commune (Anh Son district).

Comrade Lo Van Thai, head of Hamlet 4, said: “After receiving the directive from higher authorities regarding the maintenance and repair of rural roads, the Party branch organized a hamlet meeting to disseminate the directive to all residents. Simultaneously, daily announcements were made through the public address system about the directives, urging people to participate in the movement. At the same time, self-governing groups went to each household to spread the message and encourage residents to implement the directives effectively. Therefore, despite being a hamlet with a small population, 100% ethnic Thai people, and a high poverty rate (38 out of 55 households), it has been at the forefront of the rural road maintenance and repair movement.” With this approach, when the commune launched the campaign, residents in the hamlets voluntarily participated in dredging canals, cutting down trees, filling potholes on the roads; contributing money and land to expand the road corridor, and clearing encroachments on the traffic safety corridor…

Mr. Ngan Van Ky, a resident of Hamlet 4, happily said: “After hearing about the dissemination and implementation plan of Directive 25, I found this to be a correct policy that is in line with the people's wishes. Therefore, my family donated 200 square meters of land, demolished 60 meters of fence, and removed many valuable perennial trees to expand the traffic corridor.” In addition, the commune mobilized owners of excavators, bulldozers, and trucks operating in the area to support the local efforts in maintaining and repairing roads. During the July 2014 campaign, the entire Tam Son commune mobilized nearly 2,500 people to maintain 7 km of roads, dredge 7 km of canals, and clear trees along both sides of the roads. Of this, the area donated by the people was 2,000 square meters, and the people themselves demolished 45 meters of built fences, and approximately 3,700 meters of fences made of trees and other materials. Encouraged by the results achieved, from July 2014, on the 28th of each month, the hamlets in the commune voluntarily organized campaigns to clean up the environment, ensuring that the village roads and alleys were clean and beautiful.

In Hung Son commune, where over 33% of the population are Catholic, both Catholic and non-Catholic residents joined hands to level the ground, clean up the environment, and maintain 22 km of inter-commune, inter-hamlet, and intra-hamlet roads, making them clean and beautiful. In hamlets 8 and 9, over 90% of the residents are Catholic. The Party committee and local government, in coordination with the priest, disseminated information about the rural road maintenance plan to every resident, and the people responded enthusiastically. Each household in the hamlet contributed an additional 10,000 VND to buy soil and divided the earthwork among different sections of the hamlet's roads for maintenance. Father Ho Sy Huyen, the parish priest of Dong Lam Parish, mobilized the people to participate in the rural road maintenance through the public address system and during church services. At the same time, the priest went to the site to encourage the people, creating a lively atmosphere for the campaign. Comrade Vo Van Hien, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Son commune, shared: "That success was significantly contributed to by skillful mass mobilization work, the close coordination between the Party committee, the government, and the priest, which fostered a spirit of unity between Catholics and non-Catholics, persuading the people to wholeheartedly participate."

To date, Anh Son district has over 150 km of asphalt roads and over 200 km of various types of concrete roads. In the two years of 2012-2013, localities invested in more than 108 km of rural roads with cement concrete surfaces under the New Rural Development program. However, after handover and commissioning, some road surfaces are sinking, cracking, ditches are silted up, road shoulders are encroached upon, and trees obstruct visibility, etc. One of the reasons is that maintenance work in some localities has not been given adequate attention. Therefore, to implement the policy of restoring existing roads, the Standing Committee of the Anh Son District Party Committee issued Directive 25, which was actively responded to by localities. In the campaign launched in early July 2014, the entire district mobilized 31,432 man-days, estimated at 3,583.3 million VND; The people contributed over 493 million VND to maintain and repair over 283 km of roads and donated 19,485 m2 of land to widen roads, clear thousands of trees, and build thousands of cubic meters of roadbed and shoulders…

Comrade Le Hong Vinh, Secretary of the Anh Son District Party Committee, stated: “Implementing the policy on maintaining and repairing rural roads has initially helped to re-establish and maintain transportation infrastructure in the area, creating a beautiful, clean, and green environment, contributing to improving the quality of roads, reducing traffic accidents, and contributing to the construction of new rural areas. More importantly, another great achievement is the spirit of solidarity and consensus between religious and secular communities, and internal unity among the people. In the coming time, the district will evaluate and replicate successful models and practices to ensure the movement is maintained regularly, contributing to the completion of transportation infrastructure in the area.”

Thanh Le