The 'key' to creating consensus in Thanh Thuy border commune

Cán bộ thôn Ngọc Lâm, xã Thanh Thủy trao đổi về kinh nghiệm trồng chè. Ảnh: G.H
Officials of Ngoc Lam village, Thanh Thuy commune discuss tea growing experiences. Photo: GH

In Thuy Son village, Thanh Thuy commune, Mr. Nguyen Sy Quyen (95 years old, 75 years in the Party) is trusted by the Party and respected by the people not only because he is the oldest veteran Party member in the locality, but he is also exemplary in movements and activities, including economic development. Taking us to visit the orchard of more than 1 hectare with all kinds of oranges, grapefruits, guavas, jackfruits, apples... surrounding the large hill behind the house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien - Mr. Quyen's daughter-in-law happily said: "This orchard was formed from my father-in-law's idea, he said that land should not be wasted, so since 2015, he discussed with his children and grandchildren to rent machinery to dig the ground to plant fruit trees...".

Cụ Nguyễn Sinh Quyền - đảng viên lão thành ở thôn Thủy Sơn trò chuyện với cán bộ Thường trực Đảng xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh:  Gia Huy
Mr. Nguyen Sinh Quyen - a veteran party member in Thuy Son village, talks with the Standing Party Committee of Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: Gia Huy

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chien - Standing Committee of Thanh Thuy Commune Party Committee added: “Mr. Quyen’s family is a studious and cultural family of the commune; although having many children and grandchildren, they are united and harmonious. He has 7 children, 27 grandchildren, 55 great-grandchildren and is currently living with his son’s family, Mr. Nguyen Sy Vinh (75 years old), who is also an exemplary Party member and holds the record for being the longest-serving Chairman of the Farmers’ Association in the commune!”…

Starting from a low point, in order to achieve the goal of striving to reach the new rural finish line in 2023, the Thanh Thuy Commune Party Committee has focused on the exemplary role of cadres and party members in propagating and mobilizing people to overcome the state of waiting, dependence, self-reliance, and self-reliance to develop the household economy. If they want people to listen and believe, cadres and party members cannot be left behind! Therefore, from veteran party members like Mr. Quyen to village and hamlet leaders like Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of Ngoc Lam village, they always set an example to "open the way" to escape poverty and increase household income.

Ông Nguyễn Văn Dương - Trưởng thôn Ngọc Lâm là người tiên phong đưa cây thanh long về trồng ở địa bàn. Ảnh: G.H
Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of Ngoc Lam village is the pioneer in bringing dragon fruit to grow in the area. Photo: GH

Mr. Duong was the first person in the village to plant dragon fruit trees 10 years ago. Up to now, 120 dragon fruit trees still bring in a good income and 10 households in the hamlet have followed the village chief to grow dragon fruit. In addition, the village chief's family also opened a service business and has 1 hectare of lush tea. Taking us to visit the livestock farm models, fruit gardens, and endless tea fields of the people, Ngoc Lam Village Chief Nguyen Van Duong said: The village has 231 households, 865 people, with a total natural area of ​​381.28 hectares. It is one of the leading villages in the movement to renovate mixed gardens and develop the hill garden economy. Currently, there are 35-40 households with good production, earning from 50-55 million VND/year.

Cán bộ xã Thanh Thủy và thôn Thủy Chung đi thăm lúa. Ảnh: Gia Huy
Officials of Thanh Thuy commune and Thuy Chung village visit rice fields. Photo: Gia Huy

In particular, there are pioneering party members such as the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Bach Cuc with a model of raising pigs, growing tea, and growing fruit trees, bringing in an income of hundreds of millions of VND/year. In addition, the village has strengths in tea trees, with a total area of ​​over 50 hectares, an average yield of 18 tons/ha/year... Thanks to improving income and poor households, in 2022, Ngoc Lam village reached the new rural finish line.

Người dân xã Thanh Thủy phát triển mô hình trồng hoa lý cho thu nhập cao. Ảnh: Gia Huy
Thanh Thuy commune residents develop a model of growing jasmine flowers for high income. Photo: Gia Huy

Talking to us about the "going ahead" spirit of the commune's cadres and party members, Mr. Vo Van Thinh - Secretary of the Thanh Thuy Commune Party Committee said: Not only helping poor households, but each cadre and party member themselves must be exemplary in investing in household economic development. The example-setting of cadres and party members has contributed to improving the effectiveness of "Skilled Mass Mobilization" work, strengthening people's trust in the Party and the government apparatus. A typical example is Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chien in Thuy Chung village, although busy with the work of a Standing Committee of the Party in the commune, he still invested in planting acacia, tea, especially developing a model of growing lily flowers for high income (2 sao of lily flowers of Mr. Chien's family brought in many times more income than growing rice, the price at the beginning of the season was 60,000 VND/kg, currently it is 36,000 VND/kg).

Đảng viên Nguyễn Đình Chiến ở thôn Thủy Chung tiên phong trong phong trào trồng hoa lý cho thu nhập cao ở xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh: Gia Huy
Party member Nguyen Dinh Chien in Thuy Chung village pioneered the movement of growing jasmine flowers for high income in Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: Gia Huy

According to the leaders of Thanh Thuy commune, a commune located in a mountainous and border area with many difficulties, the Party Committee and the commune government determined that they must rely on the strengths of the locality to propagate and mobilize people to develop the economy, promote mechanization in agriculture, and develop commodity production.

Forest economy continues to be affirmed, people have attached importance to developing raw material forest plantation combined with protection and enrichment of forest capital, bringing high economic value while protecting natural resources and forest environment. In 2023, the total forest planting area of ​​the commune is estimated at 240 hectares and is currently aiming to reach 300 hectares by 2025.

Chè là cây trồng chủ lực mang lại giá trị kinh tế cao ở xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh: P.V
Tea is a key crop that brings high economic value in Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: PV

Livestock continues to develop in both quantity and quality, reducing small-scale farming and increasing the number of households raising concentrated livestock in the direction of bio-safety. The total herd of buffalo and cows is currently 2,800, the herd of pigs is 4,000, the herd of goats is 1,600, the herd of poultry is 80,000, the proportion of the livestock industry accounts for 42.1% of the agricultural sector.

Cây hoa lý đem lại thu nhập cao cho người dân xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh: P.V
Jasmine trees bring high income to people in Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: PV

To create jobs and increase income for people, Thanh Thuy commune authorities also focus on promoting industrial production, handicrafts, and services, such as the production of dried tea buds, unburnt bricks, and the repair of machinery and equipment. In particular, in 2023, HDT Eco-tourism Area was recognized as a tourist destination of the province... including experiential activities associated with farming; food, accommodation, entertainment and recreation services have opened up new directions for development in the area.

Mở rộng, chỉnh trang đường giao thông nông thôn tại xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh: Mai Hoa
Expanding and improving rural roads in Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: Mai Hoa

Recognizing difficulties and limitations in new rural construction, entering the 2020-2025 term, the Party Committee and the Thanh Thuy commune government focused on propaganda work to change awareness, helping people understand that they are the main subjects in new rural construction; at the same time, promoting the democratic regulations of "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect, people supervise" in each village and hamlet.

Typically, in Thuy Chung village, thanks to closely following the motto "The State and the people work together" and knowing "Skillful mass mobilization" to gain the support of the people. Many traffic routes have been expanded, the stadium and the village cultural house have been newly built. Mr. Nguyen Vinh Cuong - Secretary of the Party Cell of Thuy Chung village said: With the responsibility of setting an example and the spirit of serving the community, many party member families have taken the lead for the village to follow in building rural traffic routes.

Những con đường Nhà nước và Nhân dân cùng làm ở thôn Ngọc Lâm, xã Thanh Thủy. Ảnh: G.H
Roads built by the State and the People in Ngoc Lam village, Thanh Thuy commune. Photo: GH

For example, Mr. Nguyen Sy Ba's household contributed 20 million VND, Mr. Nguyen Sy Hung's household contributed 10 million VND, veteran Nguyen Sy Ky's family donated more than 50 million VND... from there, creating consensus among the people, up to now, the rural roads in Thuy Chung village have basically been closed. In 2023 alone, the village completed 9 routes and is currently pouring concrete on the remaining 2 routes. The village's new cultural house worth 1.8 billion VND has also been completed, the people have contributed 500,000 VND per household to purchase facilities inside the cultural house.

Nhà văn hóa thôn Thủy Chung được xây dựng khang trang. Ảnh: Gia Huy
The cultural house of Thuy Chung village was built spaciously. Photo: Gia Huy
Đường giao thông nông thôn được mở rộng giúp người dân xã Thanh Thủy thuận lợi trong đi lại sản xuất. Ảnh: KL
Expanded rural roads help Thanh Thuy commune people to travel and produce conveniently. Photo: KL

In addition, the associations in the hamlet also undertake each project and part of the work, contributing to bringing the hamlet to the new rural finish line; such as the Veterans Association undertaking the construction of a water well system, the Elderly Association mobilizing the purchase of loudspeakers to equip the cultural house, the Women's Association and the Farmers' Association undertaking the construction of 2 volleyball courts...

In Ngoc Lam village, the spirit of donating land, clearing fences, building gates, and barns to widen the road is also enthusiastically supported by the people. According to the Ngoc Lam Village Management Board: Previously, the roads in the village were narrow, 3.5-4m wide. When the village had a policy to widen them to 7m or more, the people voluntarily donated land and assets on the land to clear the ground for road construction, such as the family of Mr. Tran Van Son donated 45m of solid stone fence; the family of Hamlet Chief Nguyen Van Duong donated 67m of land...

Thanks to "Clever Mass Mobilization", up to now, 80% of the roads in Ngoc Lam village have been concreted. In 2023, the village will deploy 10 routes, each household contributes 1 million VND, some households contribute more than 20 million VND to build roads. The village also directs self-management groups to mobilize people to do a good job of building power lines, flag roads, collecting waste, protecting the environment, creating a green, clean, and beautiful landscape.

Người dân xã Thanh Thủy đồng lòng hiến đất, hiến cây mở rộng đường giao thông nông thôn; Người dân thôn Ngọc Lâm, xã Thanh Thủy xây bờ rào tường bao nhà văn hóa. Ảnh: CSCC - G.H
Thanh Thuy commune residents unanimously donated land and trees to expand rural roads; Ngoc Lam village residents, Thanh Thuy commune built a fence and wall around the cultural house. Photo: CSCC - GH

Thanh Thuy Commune Party Secretary Vo Van Thinh said: In recent times, the commune has promoted propaganda and mass mobilization work, considering this the "key" to arousing the great strength of the people. Since the beginning of the term, the entire political system has mobilized over 6.1 billion VND in cash from the people, built nearly 10 km of concrete roads, 4.7 km of graded roads; mobilized people to donate 550m of fence, 6,700 m2 of residential land and land for perennial crops.

The commune also synchronously deployed solutions to mobilize resources to carry out works serving the people such as the central lakeside market, the waste sorting house of the commune health station, the entertainment area for the elderly and children, the construction of yards, fences and classrooms at primary and secondary schools in the area... The material and spiritual life of the people is increasingly improved, the face of the countryside has many changes.

Người dân thôn Thủy Chung, xã Thanh Thủy tự nguyện đóng góp mua sắm cơ sở vật chất bên trong nhà văn hóa. Ảnh: G.H
People of Thuy Chung village, Thanh Thuy commune voluntarily contributed to purchase facilities inside the cultural house. Photo: GH

Another noteworthy point in Thanh Thuy commune is that the work of ensuring security, order and border security is always ensured. With 6,595 km of border adjacent to Laos, determining that it is necessary to keep "people, area and border peace" to create momentum for development, the Party Committee and the government of Thanh Thuy commune always closely coordinate with the forces stationed in the area to do a good job of propaganda and dissemination of laws to cadres and people, especially in the border area.

Many typical models with high efficiency have been deployed and put into practice effectively such as the Club "Prevention and control of domestic violence", the Club "Reforming people who have made mistakes and reintegrating them into the community"; Self-management group models, Border area classes; Grassroots mediation groups; Security camera model with 48 cameras effectively serving the work of ensuring security and order in the area. In particular, currently, the commune has 16 legal bookcases, with a total of 2,354 books of all kinds, 5 women's clubs with the law, bringing practical significance in raising legal awareness for the people and ensuring safety for women and children.

Học sinh xã Thanh Thủy tham gia tiết học vùng biên. Ảnh: P.V
Students of Thanh Thuy commune participate in a border area lesson. Photo: PV

Through the above-mentioned models of propaganda and dissemination of laws, it has contributed to helping people raise their awareness of the law, awareness of border protection and maintaining security and order; building a solid "people's heart position" in the border area. Also thanks to good propaganda and prevention work, in 2022, Thanh Thuy commune was recognized as a "Drug-free border commune".

Talking about the changes in her hometown, Mrs. Phan Thi Van (95 years old) in Ngoc Lam village expressed: “This year, the commune strives to reach the new rural destination (currently achieving 17/19 criteria), all of us are excited. As long as the policy is correct, in line with the people's wishes, everything is done openly and transparently, and cadres and party members always set an example in the movements, then all the people will want to contribute to the development of their hometown”…

Học sinh xã Thanh Thủy tham gia tìm hiểu quy chế biên giới. Ảnh: P.V
Students of Thanh Thuy commune participate in learning about border regulations. Photo: PV