Con Cuong: People build temporary bridge to collect money

(Baonghean) - In some communes such as Cam Lam, Luc Da, Mon Son in Con Cuong district, there are currently temporary bridges across rivers and streams built by local people to collect tolls from road users. These bridges have existed for many years now, the question is whether these spontaneous bridges are safe and whether the tolls set by the "bridge owners" are reasonable?

Bach Son is one of the most difficult villages in Cam Lam commune and also the most difficult village in Con Cuong. Previously, to get to this village with only 73 households, one had to wade across the rather deep Si Vang stream. During flood season, the village was often isolated for many days, forcing students to stay home from school. After crossing the stream, one had to cross another mountain to reach the village. To get rice to eat, the villagers had to take a detour through Yen Hoa village, Lang Khe commune, then take a ferry across National Highway 7A to get to the market. Although the distance was twice as long, when they ran out of salt and rice, many people had to accept paying a high price to take a ferry across the Lam River.

Temporary bridge built by locals to collect money in Nam Son village (Mon Son, Con Cuong).

Since the end of 2013, the situation of students in Bach Son village taking a detour to the market to buy rice and going to school has improved somewhat. This is thanks to Mr. Lang Van Kim's family investing in building a temporary bridge. It is called a bridge but it only has a few wooden planks placed vertically on the outer pillars which are bamboo baskets in rubble. It is known that the total investment for this "project" is 7 million VND. The cost was entirely paid by Mr. Kim's family. After the bridge was built, this family also set up a guardhouse to collect money from passersby. Strangers entering the village with motorbikes have to pay 10,000 VND, sometimes up to 15,000 VND per person.

Secretary of the Bach Son village Party cell, Mr. Vi Thai Ngoc, said: A few years ago, people mobilized materials to build a temporary bridge across the stream, but they were all swept away by floods. The villagers were discouraged and did not continue to build the bridge. After Mr. Kim's family's temporary bridge was put into operation, each household contributed 100,000 VND to avoid paying bridge fees. The amount collected from the villagers, calculated based on the number of households in the village, was enough to cover the family's investment in building the bridge, but Mr. Kim still collected money from passersby. This was explained as "covering maintenance" for the bridge, the family building the bridge would be responsible for replacing damaged planks. According to Mr. Ngoc, the commune government allowed the bridge builder to collect money from passersby, but there were no specific regulations on the amount of money collected.

The road from Yen Thanh village to Luc Son village (Luc Da) also has a temporary bridge that has existed for about 6 or 7 years. The bridge is made of wooden planks across the bridge body that are roughly built. The temporary bridge is only over 1 meter wide, has no protective railings, and was built by the family of Mr. Luong Xuan Thuyen, residing in Yen Thanh village. For many years, Mrs. Thuyen's (Mr. Thuyen's wife) has been sitting on a watchtower collecting money from passersby. Since the first day the toll bridge was built, it has been swept away by floodwaters many times. Mrs. Thuyen's family has rebuilt the bridge many times. In 2013 alone, it had to be rebuilt 4 times. There is a wooden board hanging next to the guardhouse listing the prices for different groups. Motorcyclists: 5,000 VND/person, teachers in the individual villages passing through here each have to pay 40,000 VND/month. Students are free to travel. Of course, this is also a price set by the bridge builders themselves.

The temporary bridge across the Giang River connecting Thai Son village with Nam Son village, Mon Son commune has also existed for many years. Every year, after a big flood in September and October, this bridge with bamboo pillars is washed away. When the flood recedes, Mr. Ha Van Luan's family and some other households in Nam Son village pool together to rebuild the bridge. This is a bridge with a large volume of people and motorbikes passing through. In addition to Nam Son village, Thai Hoa and Lang Yen villages also have to build bridges when going to the commune center. It seems that this is one of the very few temporary bridges built by the people to collect fees that are managed by the commune government. The Chairman of Mon Son Commune People's Committee - Ms. Ngan Thi Ha said that the commune only allows bridge owners to charge visitors with motorbikes no more than 3,000 VND/person. Teachers collect 25,000 VND/person/month. The commune does not collect taxes from these households and considers it as creating jobs for the households building the bridge. However, according to our investigation, the bridge guards in Nam Son village did not comply with the commune's regulations. They still collected 5,000 VND per person for a round trip.

It is worth mentioning that the suspension bridge across the Giang River on the way to Co Phat village has been completed. The bridge is only about half a kilometer away from the temporary bridge in Nam Son village. However, people in Nam Son village and other villages on the other side of the Giang River still have to use the temporary bridge. When the temporary bridge is washed away, a ferry will re-form here. The reason why people cannot use the suspension bridge is because the road connecting the suspension bridge to Nam Son village has not been cleared. According to the Chairwoman of Mon Son Commune People's Committee, Ms. Ngan Thi Ha, the budget for clearing the road is very limited. In the meetings of the District People's Council, the Commune People's Committee also requested the investor to clear the road from the bridge abutment to Nam Son village before the rainy season to facilitate people's travel. However, both the commune government and the people can only wait for investment capital from higher levels.

It is the difficulties in constructing traffic works and the limited budget that have made the "profession" of building temporary bridges and collecting money from people still have a reason to exist. And no one is sure whether such temporary bridges are safe for people to pass by? While they still have to pay fees to the builders of bridges that do not have any standards? While waiting for bridges to be built more solidly, those who "depend" on temporary bridges still have to pay fees set by the bridge builders without any management or regulation from the government. When will this situation end?

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