The construction of a memorial stele for those who died in the Hiep Hoa culvert accident came to Nghe An Newspaper through a petition from Mr. Nguyen Ba Binh. Mr. Binh was a former Truong Son driver, a war invalid, born in Cat Van, Thanh Chuong district but currently lives in Ho Chi Minh City. In the petition, he wrote:
“Cat Van Commune is a locality that suffered many human losses in the Hiep Hoa culvert collapse. Occasionally returning to my hometown, I learned about the earnest wishes of the people, so I wrote petitions and letters to the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Provincial National Assembly Delegation. Upon receiving the petitions and letters, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Provincial National Assembly Delegation responded in writing and assigned the relevant agencies to handle them. Specifically, such as Official Dispatch No. 5258 CV/TU dated June 5, 2018 of the Provincial Party Committee; Official Dispatch No. 202/DDBQH dated July 7, 2020 of the National Assembly Delegation, Official Dispatch No. 5677/UBND-VX dated August 2, 2018 of the Provincial People's Committee...
In Official Dispatch No. 5677/UBND-VX of the Provincial People's Committee, it was affirmed: "To commemorate this event and commemorate those who sacrificed their blood and bones for the cause of building the Soviet homeland of Nghe Tinh, on June 5, 2018, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 5258 CV/TU agreeing in principle to let the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union preside over and coordinate with relevant units to organize a memorial service and build a memorial stele for the Hiep Hoa sluice project"; "Currently, the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An province are directing the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An to conduct a survey, prepare procedures according to regulations, deploy and call on collectives and individuals to join hands in supporting the construction of the memorial stele for the Hiep Hoa sluice project, expected to be completed in 2019".
However, much time has passed, voters are still waiting for the results, but the construction of the memorial stele has not been carried out. Therefore, I write this petition, with the hope that the legitimate wishes of the relatives of the deceased, their comrades, and voters will be realized...".
Connecting with Mr. Nguyen Ba Binh, over the phone, he confided that he also had a younger sister who died in the Hiep Hoa culvert collapse on January 3, 1978. Although he missed his sister, he always thought that it was an unwanted risk, so he never once blamed any group or individual. He said: “That was a period when the homeland was extremely difficult. The Hiep Hoa culvert was damaged by American bombs, and the repair of the irrigation system to serve agricultural development was necessary and urgent. Therefore, when an unfortunate incident occurred, no one should be blamed…” At the same time, he confided that after the accident, the Party and State at all levels also paid attention, directed the overcoming of the consequences, and awarded Certificates of Merit and policies to the victims. Currently, relatives receive 540,000 VND/month/relative of each deceased person. However, there are still wishes waiting to be resolved, such as recognizing the deceased as Martyrs because they sacrificed for the cause of building the homeland; building a memorial stele at the construction site to both commemorate the deceased and educate the tradition for future generations; at the same time, considering and having a support policy for some victims who are particularly disadvantaged due to this accident...
The 72-year-old war invalid said in a low voice: “Although I do not live in my hometown, I always remember the events of 1978, so I wrote the book “Hiep Hoa Memories”. I realized that erecting a memorial stele was the right thing to do, and I had the conditions to do it, so I wrote a petition. In 2018, when I learned that the Provincial Party Committee agreed to the policy of erecting a memorial stele and organizing a memorial service for the 98 deceased, I was very happy. When I returned to my hometown in 2021, the construction unit of the Bara Do Luong project showed me the design of the memorial stele house, and I was even happier. But for some reason, the memorial stele house has not been built yet…”.
Searching for information, on June 5, 2018, the construction of the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele in 1978 was approved by the Provincial Party Committee in Official Dispatch No. 3257-CV/TU. The specific content is as follows:“Considering Official Dispatch No. 1278-CV/BTGTU dated May 29, 2018 of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department on advising on the proposal to organize a memorial service and build a memorial stele for the Hiep Hoa culvert in 1978, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has the following opinion: Agree in principle to let the Standing Committee of the Provincial Youth Union preside over and coordinate with relevant units to organize a memorial service and build a memorial stele for the Hiep Hoa culvert in 1978 as proposed in Official Dispatch No. 1278-CV/BTGTU dated May 29, 2018 of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department. Notify the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Youth Union and relevant units to know and implement”.On the evening of June 9, 2018, the Grand Requiem for the 98 people who died at Hiep Hoa culvert in 1978 was jointly held by the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha of Nghe An province and the Provincial Youth Union. In order for the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele to be built, in Document 505/UBND-BTD dated June 26, 2020, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development the task of reviewing and establishing a project for implementation.
On December 17, 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Document No. 4767/SNN-QLXD to request the Provincial People's Committee's opinion on the construction plan of the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele under the KC1 package - Component 1 - JICA2 Project. Here, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to build the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele on a gentle hill, next to the main canal management and operation road on the right bank, with the main axis leaning against the mountain facing North. At the same time, 2 construction options were proposed, of which option 1 is to build a memorial stele house with a total area of 400m2.2, estimated cost of more than 1.76 billion VND; Option 2 includes building a Memorial House, landscape support area and parking lot for visitors to offer incense with a total area of about 3,900m22, estimated cost is more than 4.49 billion VND; capital source is taken from the cost of repairing Hiep Hoa regulating culvert under package KC1.
Considering the proposal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, on December 21, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee commented in Document No. 9957/UBND-NN:“Assign the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to review and update the implementation status of the above-mentioned items; provide documents and work with the Departments, branches and units: Construction, Culture and Sports, Provincial Youth Union, Do Luong District People's Committee and related agencies to complete the procedural documents and implement the item: Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele under the KC1 package - Component 1 - JICA2 Project to ensure timeliness, compliance with current regulations of the State and not contrary to the regulations of the Sponsor; advise the Provincial People's Committee to implement the contents under its authority”.
Just a few days after the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Construction, the Department of Culture and Sports and the Provincial Youth Union all responded in writing to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, agreeing to choose option 1 and giving some suggestions so that this project is safe, in accordance with traditional customs, promoting the landscape and space, creating beauty... However, on October 21, 2022, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development decided to temporarily suspend the construction of the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele because "it does not meet the conditions to comply with regulations" (Document No. 3805/SNN-QLXD dated October 21, 2022 of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development).
According to a responsible official of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, also in October 2022, the Department reported to the Provincial People's Committee on stopping the construction of the "Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele". The reason is that the implementation of this item is not in accordance with the basic principles in state management of ODA capital, preferential loans and is not in accordance with the general objectives of the project. Discussing with him about the policy of the Provincial Party Committee in 2018, and the assignment of the task by the Provincial People's Committee to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Document 505/UBND-BTD dated June 26, 2020, to ask: What does the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development plan for the construction of the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele in the future? The answer received was that it would report and ask for the opinion of the Department's leaders to discuss again later...
On June 9, 2018, Nghe An Newspaper reported on the Grand Requiem for the 98 people who died at Hiep Hoa culvert. At the requiem, Mr. Pham Tuan Vinh, Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union, described the heartbreaking pain of the 1978 work accident; affirming that “The Hiep Hoa culvert incident left the Party Committee, the People of Nghe Tinh and the relatives and families of those who fell here with endless pain. More than 40 years have passed, Hiep Hoa culvert is still there, the cool water still flows day and night, irrigating the fields of Do Luong - Yen Thanh - Dien Chau - Quynh Luu with more bumper crops, contributing to creating a prosperous, happy and peaceful life for the homeland”. And promised the souls of the deceased "to call on agencies, units, groups, and individuals to join hands and contribute to support the construction of a memorial stele to commemorate and record the names of those who fell on this land on January 3, 1978...".
After 5 years, Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union Pham Tuan Vinh has changed jobs and is currently Secretary of the Thai Hoa City Party Committee. But when mentioning the Great Requiem for the 98 people who died at Hiep Hoa culvert, he still worries about the fact that the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele has not been built. He confided: “I have now taken on another job, but I always look forward to the day when the Hiep Hoa culvert memorial stele is completed. I see that it is necessary to initiate and build a memorial stele to commemorate and record the names of the deceased…”.
Also in Nghe An Newspaper, on January 3, 2021, there was an article “Hiep Hoa, unsatisfied feelings” by author Anh Dang. The author lived in the same period, so his article was full of emotion and experience, mentioning the spirit of tens of thousands of young men and women participating in socialist labor at large irrigation projects; the heartbreaking incident on January 3, 1978 at Hiep Hoa sluice; and the need to fulfill the wishes of relatives of the deceased, comrades and people….
Anh Dang is the pen name of the former Standing Deputy Secretary of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, Mr. Dang Anh Dung. Asked about the reason for writing the article "Hiep Hoa, unsatisfied feelings", Mr. Dung choked up: I know about the wishes of the relatives of those who died at the Hiep Hoa project that year as well as Thanh Chuong voters, especially voters of Cat Van commune, a locality where 37 people died in the accident at Hiep Hoa culvert. I myself am also a son of Cat Van, my sister also had an accident there but was fortunately rescued. Some of my friends here have also passed away, they will never return. The times I returned to my hometown to meet voters, or later, I was able to participate in the annual meeting of those who participated in socialist labor at Hiep Hoa culvert, meeting many people, from the General Team Leader to the liaison officer... it was truly their wishes that urged me to write...
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On the full moon day of March, we went with former Standing Deputy Secretary of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee Dang Anh Dung and his friends to Hoa Son, Do Luong to visit Hiep Hoa sluice. Traveling on the management route, crossing the canal through the mountain to Yen Thanh land, we saw the Lam River still flowing gently every day to create bumper harvests. In front of the small temple built precariously on a rock mound by the roadside, offering incense, Mr. Dang Anh Dung choked up: Holding a bowl of fragrant rice to remember the deceased. The merits of you, I will forever remember...
