Removing obstacles to monitoring activities.

(Baonghean) - In practice, the supervisory activities of the People's Inspection Committee and the Community Investment Supervision Committee in localities are increasingly affirming the role of the people as "eyes and ears" in participating in the management and operation of society. However, the obstacles and difficulties encountered are a significant impediment preventing these activities from achieving the desired results.

The people's "ears and eyes" are put to good use.

It can be said that since the 11th National Assembly enacted the Law on Inspection, which includes provisions on People's Inspection (PA) and assigned the responsibility of organizing and directing PA activities at the commune, ward, and town levels to the Fatherland Front, the Government issued Decree No. 99/2005/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of some articles of the Law on Inspection regarding the organization and operation of the PA Board. Along with that, the promulgation of Decision No. 80/2005/QD-TTg on the issuance of regulations on community investment supervision... has led to increased attention to supervision activities. To date, Nghe An province has established PA Boards and Community Investment Supervision Boards in all 431 communes. Trusted and entrusted with responsibility by the people, the PA Boards and Community Investment Supervision Boards have effectively played their role, detecting, preventing, and promptly handling many investment activities that harm the interests of the community.

The construction of rural roads in Nam Dan district is always supervised by the Community Investment Supervision Board.

Nam Dan District is highly regarded by the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee for its monitoring activities. Currently, in the 24 communes and towns of the district, People's Inspection Committees and Community Investment Supervision Committees have been established with a total of 185 members, of which 166 members are concurrently working in both committees. Living up to the people's trust, in 2013, the People's Inspection Committees monitored 94 cases. Of these, 31 cases were verified, 35 cases were recommended for resolution, and 25 cases were resolved. Also in 2013, the Community Investment Supervision Committees monitored 75 out of 91 construction investment projects in the district, accounting for 82.4% of the projects monitored. During the monitoring process, violations were discovered in 2 projects, and recommendations for handling them were made.

For example, in the case of rural road construction in Nam Cat commune, the People's Supervision and Investment Management Board discovered technical errors and substandard sand and gravel quality. Similarly, the project to upgrade canals and pumping stations in Nam Cuong commune was delayed, but thanks to the role of the People's Supervision and Investment Management Board, the investor and contractor subsequently took proactive steps to ensure the project was completed on schedule. Mr. Le Van Binh, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Nam Dan district, stated: The supervisory activities of the People's Inspection and Investment Management Boards in the communes have contributed to raising the responsibility of construction contractors in paying attention to the quality and progress of construction.

In many other localities, the supervisory role of the People's Inspection Committee and the Community Supervision Committee demonstrates that this is a correct policy, promoting the people's right to self-governance in state management. In Yen Thanh district, supervisory activities have received attention from Party committees and authorities at all levels, resulting in the formation of responsible and capable officials in all 39 communes and towns. Many cases have been detected and recommendations made promptly, strengthening the people's trust. A notable example is the construction of the Duc Quang dam in Duc Thanh commune, with a capital of 265 million VND, serving to irrigate over 60 hectares of agricultural land in the commune. Through the supervision process, the commune's Community Supervision Committee discovered that the flood discharge structure did not meet the design elevation, and all materials and supplies were insufficient. Mr. Cung Dinh Hop, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Duc Thanh commune, said: "During the construction process, I and the members of the committee noticed that the investor intentionally cut corners on materials, carried out shoddy construction, and did a fraudulent job. Given this situation, the Community Supervision Committee drew up a report and submitted a proposal to the Standing Committee of the Fatherland Front of the commune, through the People's Committee of the commune, and to the People's Council of the commune, requesting that the contractor be forced to dismantle the structure and rebuild it completely, in the presence of local leaders, the project owner, the contractor, and the construction unit."

Challenges that need to be overcome

The current problem is that the People's Inspection and Supervision Boards only carry out supervision activities for projects where the district and commune are the investors, while it is very difficult to access projects where the central and provincial governments are the investors. The main reason is that the project management boards and contractors have not promptly provided the necessary documents and records, especially for projects related to transportation and irrigation. For example, the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 540 and the Soviet Road (the section passing through the Kim Lien historical site) has a total length of 2.4 km and an approved budget of 57 billion VND. It was started in November 2011 and required completion by March 2013, but the project remains largely unfinished beyond the deadline. During implementation, the commune's People's Inspection and Supervision Boards have not been given favorable conditions to perform their supervisory role. Mr. Le Van Binh, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Nam Dan district, said: "This is one of the major obstacles for projects funded by the central and provincial levels, where the supervisory role has not been fully demonstrated. Partly, the supervisory committee lacks information, and due to a lack of close coordination, implementation is very difficult."

According to the "Community Investment Monitoring Regulations," the scope of community monitoring is very broad. The Community Monitoring Board must participate in many stages, the most difficult of which is monitoring and inspecting compliance with technical procedures, standards, material norms, and the correct types of materials during the project implementation; monitoring and inspecting the results of project acceptance and final settlement… Due to limitations in the capacity and professional qualifications of the members, monitoring activities have not achieved high results. Most members monitor visually, meaning they listen and see, but lack the necessary skills to read design drawings, participate in monitoring cost estimates, acceptance, and final settlement of projects. Mr. Vuong Dinh An - Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Van Dien commune (Nam Dan district) said: These are the most fundamental limitations of the community monitoring force. Because with mainly elementary and intermediate levels of education, it is difficult for them to fully grasp all the technical parameters and specialized concepts. Therefore, more training courses and programs to equip people with knowledge and professional skills need to be organized.

Although the activities of the People's Investment Supervision Boards have contributed to reducing waste and loss of state funds, funding for their operation is very limited, with some localities lacking sufficient funds to allocate to the People's Inspection Boards and People's Investment Supervision Boards. To date, Hung Nguyen district has established 23 People's Inspection Boards and 23 People's Investment Supervision Boards, of which 18 are part-time. However, five People's Investment Supervision Boards lack operating funds, including those in Hung Tien, Hung Nhan, Hung Khanh, Hung Lam, and Hung Phu. Some other boards only provide each member with 20,000 VND per month. Mr. Pham Van Trung - Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Hung Khanh commune (Hung Nguyen district) said: Although the officials are very dedicated and responsible in their work, the lack of funding makes it difficult to organize any activities. Not to mention that to motivate and encourage members to participate in community investment supervision, the locality also finds it difficult to allocate any other funds.

Regarding this issue, Ms. Phan Thi Thuy, Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Hung Nguyen district, stated that the operating budget for the committees is too small and not commensurate with their functions, tasks, and activities as stipulated. This is especially true in the current context where we are accelerating the implementation of the new rural development program. Therefore, in addition to supplementing funding to ensure committee members can operate with peace of mind, it is necessary to clearly define the responsibilities of those authorized to approve planning and projects, investors, construction units, and state management agencies... in creating conditions for community investment monitoring committees to operate within their legally prescribed authority. This should be considered a necessary legal document for project acceptance and final settlement. Only then will the responsibility of investors for this activity be enhanced.

Text and photos:Pham Bang