Clarifying the 'scandals' in Ban Quynh 2, Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district

Truth

The incident in Quynh 2 village, Chau Binh commune started with a Facebook user. At the end of May 2020, this person posted a status on his personal Facebook saying that Quynh 2 village had a well-off household but still had a poor household card, receiving subsidies affected by the Covid-19 epidemic; while in the area there were families in real difficulty but were not considered to receive subsidies. This person also took and posted a picture of Mr. Bui Van Khuyen's grocery store to illustrate his status.

Mr. Bui Van Khuyen (far right) and daughter-in-law Ho Thi Phuong Anh talk with Vice Chairman of Chau Binh Commune Luong Van Huyen. Photo: Nhat Lan

This information quickly spread among local people and on social networks. Some press agencies and electronic news sites also reported the news, creating a multi-dimensional public opinion about the work of assessing poor households as well as the payment of support money for disadvantaged people during the Covid-19 pandemic in Quynh 2 village. To properly assess the nature of this incident, we went to Quynh 2 village to directly meet the people involved, find out the source...

Regarding the case of Mr. Bui Van Khuyen's family, residing in Quynh 2 village, Chau Binh commune, with a house along National Highway 48, and a fairly well-off economic life. According to Mr. Khuyen, "This whole week there has been information on social media saying that even though my family has a "huge" grocery store and a car, we are still a poor household and receive support money from the State for the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. However, I affirm that my family has never been on the list of poor households in Quynh 2 village, so there is no way we will receive support money for the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic."

Mr. Bui Van Khuyen added that the reason for the misunderstanding was that when the commune paid the Covid-19 support regime, his daughter-in-law, Ms. Ho Thi Phuong Anh, went to the commune to do the procedures and paperwork for household registration. The person who posted on Facebook saw it and mistakenly thought that she was going to receive the support money. After realizing that the post was wrong, this person removed the information on Facebook and apologized to the family.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Duc (pictured above) has been bedridden for four years and is being cared for at her son's house. Photo: Hoai Thu

There are two cases that have attracted the attention of the press and public opinion: Mr. Nguyen Van Lai and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duc. They were “identified” as having a good economic situation, having a nice house, but were recognized as poor households and entitled to support policies.

In fact, it is not like that. In the case of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duc's household, it is a poor household with only one person. She suffered a serious stroke and has been bedridden for the past 4 years. Previously, Mrs. Duc and her husband lived in their own house (also in Quynh 2 village). In 2019, Mrs. Duc's husband passed away, so she was brought to her son's house for convenient care. Mrs. Duc's son's family is quite nice, so there was a misunderstanding.

Mrs. Duc's poverty certificate.

Regarding Mr. Nguyen Van Lai's family, he lives with his stepmother and biological father. Both of them are old and sick (Mr. Lai's father passed away at the end of May 2020), while Mr. Lai himself has lost his ability to work, so he was considered a poor household by the people. Regarding Mr. Lai's "disreputable" house, at the time the village considered the poor household (November 2019), it had not been built yet. The old house is still located behind the new house, covered with proximang. To have a new house next to National Highway 48 to both have a place to live and open a business, Mr. Lai had to borrow from the bank and ask for help from the children of his stepmother and biological father.

Also related to Quynh 2 village, public opinion also believes that there are households with difficult circumstances but are not considered poor households, such as Ho Ba Trung's household, Ho Ba Hau's household, Bien Tien Duc's household...; however, the matter is not like that.

Mr. Ho Ba Trung (far left) worked in China for more than a year and returned home in early 2020. Photo: Hoai Thu

In the case of Mr. Ho Ba Trung's family, formerly a poor household in Quynh 2 village. In 2019, Mr. Trung went to China to work (illegally), while his wife went to work for a company in Bac Ninh province. At the time Quynh 2 village assessed the poor household (late 2019), both Mr. Trung and his wife were not present in the locality, so they were not included in the assessment. When contacted, in the family's newly renovated house, Mr. Ho Ba Trung said that he "had no questions about his family's case"; and said that because he worked illegally, he did not have documents from the Chinese company to certify, so he could not complete the procedures to apply for support, while his wife had confirmation from the company, so she submitted an application to the commune to wait for the day to receive the regime.

Ho Ba Hau's family (Ho Ba Trung's younger brother) has 4 members. According to Hau's wife, he works as a car driver, earning 6-7 million VND/month; she is a manual laborer, earning an average of 5 million VND/month (180,000 VND/day). The income of this couple is about 10-11 million VND/month. According to the income criteria for a household to be recognized as a poor household according to regulations, it is 700,000 VND/month. Therefore, Hau's household does not meet the conditions to be considered a poor household.

Reporters from Nghe An Newspaper and officials from Chau Binh commune inspected the house of Ho Ba Trung and To Thi Thom in Quynh 2 village, Chau Binh commune. Photo: Nhat Lan

Not far from Ho Ba Trung's house is Bien Tien Duc's family. Duc's family has 4 members. Duc's house was built under the 167 housing support program in 2014. According to Duc, he is currently no longer able to work, but his wife and 2 sons can still earn a living.

Mr. Duc said: “I have no problem with not being considered a poor household, because there are people in the village who are poorer than my family. I just disagree that there are households in the village that have cars but are poor households, receiving support money…”. When asked to clarify the case of “a household that has a car but is poor and receives support money”, Mr. Bien Tien Duc refused, because he heard about it but did not see it, because “I rarely interact with my children every day, I only take my children from home to the kindergarten (50m from home) and then come back”.

The most painful thing in Quynh 2 village is the information that there are 3 cases of people who died but still received Covid-19 support. Verification shows that this incident happened, but there are some ironic details. These 3 cases include Ms. Ho Thi Thu (died in 2019), Mr. Ho Nam Nguyen (died in January 2020) and Mr. Ho Nam Son (died in February 2020).

Ms. Ho Thi Thu was born in 1978, a single mother raising two children (3 and 5 years old). Ms. Thu passed away from cancer, leaving her two children orphaned and living with her younger brother. Unfortunately, her younger brother was not married, had no stable job, and often wandered around, so the two children often had to rely on neighboring families and social organizations in the village and commune.

Quynh 2 village chief To Duy Tong (second from right) talks to reporters about the assessment of poor and near-poor households in the village. Photo: HT

As for Mr. Ho Nam Nguyen and Mr. Ho Nam Son (father and son). Mr. Nguyen and his son died less than a month apart. Mr. Ho Nam Nguyen had a wife but she left him when their child was only 3 months old. Mr. Nguyen was raising his son (now 5 years old) alone when he became ill and died, leaving his grandson with his grandmother. Mr. Nguyen's mother (Mr. Ho Nam Son's wife) is now old and weak and unable to work, but has to raise a youngest son who has been disabled since childhood, and now has to raise a young grandchild.

According to Chau Binh commune officials, after discovering 3 deceased cases still receiving Covid-19 support, the commune took back the money. The reason these cases were included in the payment list, Chau Binh commune policy officials admitted their mistake was due to negligence in not checking carefully.

This officer said: “It is right to take back the support money, it is the State’s regulations that must be implemented. However, we also feel extremely guilty because these families are in such difficult circumstances…”.

The family situation of Mr. Ho Nam Nguyen (passed away in January 2020). Photo: PV

New rural areas need a suitable roadmap

Quynh 2 village is a convenient locality in terms of transportation, with National Highway 48 running across it; in recent years, people have benefited from the Ban Mong irrigation reservoir project, through the State's land acquisition and compensation for site clearance. In 2018, Quynh 2 village had 77 poor households and 68 near-poor households; in 2019, after review, there were 40 poor households and 58 near-poor households. In 2020, Quynh 2 village registered to strive to achieve provincial-level new rural status by the end of the year, and was approved by the People's Committee of Quy Chau district. To achieve the title of new rural area, the criteria for poor households are one of the prerequisites. Therefore, every quarter, the Village Management Board and the Commune People's Committee will review the criteria for poor and near-poor households. In early June 2020, the Quynh 2 Village Management Board, through review, determined that the number of poor households could be reduced from 40 to 8 households; 58 near-poor households reduced to 23 households. From this review, Chau Binh Commune People's Committee also expects that by June 2020, Quynh 2 village will have 57 households that can escape poverty and near-poverty.

However, this action of Quynh 2 village and Chau Binh commune at the time of paying the Covid-19 support fund has raised doubts about the unfairness and inaccuracy in the assessment of poor and near-poor households. The reason is that the assessment of poor and near-poor households in 2020 was completed at the end of October 2019, and has only been 8 months. In the past 8 months, there was a Lunar New Year holiday and about 2 more months of the Covid-19 epidemic, implementing social isolation.

Family situation of Ms. Ho Thi Thu (passed away in 2019). Photo: PV

Although Quynh 2 village is a mountainous area, less affected, it is also affirmed that during this period of time, it is impossible for 57 households to "quickly" overcome poverty. If such a thing happened, it could only be because of forced poverty reduction, or the previous assessment did not meet the prescribed criteria.

Asked about this, many households in Quynh 2 village also expressed their concerns. As Mr. Bui Van Khuyen frankly said: “Regarding the assessment of poor and near-poor households in the village, due to the fact that there is still a certain amount of favoritism, some households are not really accurate. But if we put 50-60 poor and near-poor households at the same time, it is not correct. Among these, many households are still very poor. I suggest that we review it for the people…”.

In an exchange, Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district Ngo Duc Thuan affirmed that the district has no move to release a list of poor and near-poor households for 57 households in Quynh 2 village. Because any household that wants to escape poverty halfway must submit an application to escape poverty; as for the rights of poor households, according to regulations, they are determined from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. "No one has the right to cut off the rights of the people if they do not voluntarily submit an application..." - Mr. Ngo Duc Thuan exchanged. To solve the problems in Quynh 2 village, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district said: "We are closely reviewing the assessment of poor and near-poor households in Quynh 2 village, the whole Chau Binh commune and other communes in the area. The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs also inspected Quynh 2 village on June 10. Quy Chau district will seriously carry out the review to recover the State's support funds for households that do not meet the criteria according to the regulations for poor and near-poor households to return to the budget. Individuals and organizations that make mistakes will be held responsible," Mr. Thuan affirmed.

Quynh 2 village center, Chau Binh commune. Photo: NL

For many years, the assessment of poor and near-poor household standards in the province, especially in mountainous areas, still has many shortcomings and inadequacies. Quynh 2 village is no exception. Specifically, the case of the 3 children of the village chief To Duy Tong. The head of Quynh 2 village, Mr. To Duy Tong has 6 children, including 3 daughters who are married and are near-poor households. After public opinion, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Quy Chau district and Chau Binh commune checked and re-scored. As a result, all 3 households of Mr. To Duy Tong's children achieved the score, even exceeding the score to be recognized as near-poor households. However, in the area, there are a few households at the same level but not near-poor households. The fact that the village chief has 3 children who are near-poor households at the same time, while there are a number of households with similar circumstances, are not considered; Normally no one would pay attention, but at the time when the Government gave support for the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic (750,000 VND/person), of course there would be gossip.

Therefore, in the immediate future, Quy Chau district needs to direct the inspection and review of the payment of Covid-19 support regime throughout the area; in the coming time, it is necessary to direct the commune authorities to closely inspect and supervise the assessment of poor and near-poor households in villages to avoid the situation of favoritism leading to wrongdoing. In order to prevent similar incidents as in Quynh 2 village from happening again.