Tan Ky district's Catholic Church unites to build a unique rural road

The highlight is the high traffic criteria, with a 11m wide concrete road, 4 lanes. This is considered the only wide rural road in Nghe An province.

This road was built with cement and money from the State and with the people's own resources. Photo: Phuong Thao

Coming to Ky Tan commune, Tan Ky district, we were amazed at the miraculous changes, the village traffic system was widely concreted, cars and motorbikes came and went to transport goods busily, the life of the people here is much more prosperous. That is the result of changing thinking and working methods in the process of implementing the goal of building new rural areas in this locality.

The road is 11m wide, 23cm thick, and 980m long, connecting Ho Chi Minh road to Highway 15B. To have this road, Ky Tan commune and the priest mobilized the people of both religions to donate nearly 4 hectares of land, and the State supported more than 655 tons of cement for the people to widen the road.

The road has now been put into use, creating favorable conditions for the people and more than 700 students of Ky Tan Kindergarten and Primary School to travel easily and safely. This route is considered by the local people as a route to avoid floods in the rainy season and to avoid dust in the summer.

The concrete road makes it convenient for people to travel. Photo: Phuong Thao

Walking on the wide road with 4 lanes, Mr. Nguyen Van Bang - parishioner, hamlet chief of hamlet 4, Ky Tan commune excitedly shared: To have this unique wide rural road, 95 households in the hamlet united, agreed, and chose a method suitable to local conditions.

People voluntarily donated nearly 4 hectares of land, contributing more than 1 million VND per person to build rural roads. The easy sections and necessary routes were built first. Everything was discussed and carefully calculated by the people, and they organized the implementation, so people felt more responsible for the projects they undertook.

The process of building traffic routes in Ky Tan commune, Tan Ky district shows that promoting the role of the people has made success, which is clearly shown in each road and traffic route.

With the support of the state with 1,970 tons of cement, the provincial, district and commune budgets, and the people's contribution with a total capital of 28 billion 336 million VND for traffic construction. Up to now, 100% of commune roads and roads from the commune center to the district roads have been concreted and asphalted, ensuring convenient car travel all year round.

70% of village and inter-village roads are paved. 100% of village roads are clean and not muddy in the rainy season, 50% of main roads in the fields ensure convenient transportation of goods. The muddy dirt roads every time it rains have now been replaced by a standard concrete road system.

The provincial appraisal team conducted a field survey of traffic routes in Ky Tan commune. Photo: Phuong Thao

Mr. Ho Sy Quang's family in hamlet 4, Ky Tan commune is a Catholic family, implementing the new rural construction program, his family is willing to donate land and contribute working days. Mr. Quang said: "With the attention of the government and the support of the parish priest and parish priest, the people have been able to open a more beautiful road, people donated from 1 to 2 hectares of land, like my family donated more than 1 hectare, so we have a beautiful road, a spacious rural area".

Ky Tan is a purely agricultural commune with a population of 6,720 people, of which 20% are Catholics. It has 3 churches, so mobilizing people to unite to build new rural areas is of great significance. Priest Ngo Van Hau, the parish priest, is always close to and accompanies the local Party Committee and government to overcome difficulties in building new rural areas.

The best thing and the greatest achievement in Ky Tan commune in building new rural areas is the solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics, which is clearly shown in hamlets 3, 4, and 6 of Tan Son where Catholics live. People in hamlets and villages have carried out patriotic emulation movements well, and production development emulation movements have been strongly promoted to each hamlet and residential group. Up to now, the whole commune has many effective economic models, creating jobs for hundreds of rural workers, with an average income per capita in 2018 reaching 31.6 million VND.

Workers are rushing to complete the concreting of traffic routes. Photo: Phuong Thao