Nam Dan is determined to achieve the status of a new rural district by 2017.

(Baonghean) - To date, Nam Dan district has 18 out of 23 communes meeting the standards of the New Rural Development Program, exceeding the target set in Resolution No. 04 of the District Party Committee "on the implementation of the National Target Program for New Rural Development in the period 2010 - 2020". This success creates momentum for Nam Dan to be determined to achieve the goal of becoming a New Rural Development district in 2017.

Mobilizing combined strength

Today, returning to Khanh Son, considered one of the most disadvantaged communes in Nam Dan district, we see that the rural roads have been widened and paved with asphalt; the commune's office building is new, spacious, and well-equipped. Many successful household economic models have emerged in the commune, including carpentry, trading, and livestock farming. Furthermore, fields have been consolidated and re-plotted, creating specialized areas for high-income commodity production.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Xuan Duong and the working group inspect the rural transportation system in Kim Lien commune (Nam Dan district). Photo: Thanh Duy

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hong, Vice Chairman of Khanh Son commune, said: "To date, Khanh Son has achieved 18 out of 19 criteria for New Rural Development. To achieve these results despite many difficulties, the commune has done a good job of disseminating information and mobilizing the people. Once the people's mindset was understood, they actively contributed labor and resources to build public works. A noteworthy achievement in the New Rural Development process in Khanh Son is that people voluntarily donated land to open roads and serve the flood control projects on routes 01 and 22."

To date, 26 households have voluntarily donated nearly 4,000 square meters of residential land and 835 meters of fence. Notable examples include Mr. Dau Van Tinh, who donated over 320 square meters of residential land and 80 meters of fence; Mr. Nguyen Minh Long, who donated 280 square meters of residential land; and Mr. Dau Huy, who donated 270 square meters of land and 52 meters of fence. Currently, the commune has completed 11 kilometers of concrete village roads using cement provided by the province and district, as well as contributions from the people; all 29 villages have a synchronized system of cultural and sports facilities meeting the required standards. The goal is for Khanh Son to achieve the New Rural Area status by the end of 2017.

Khanh Son 2 Primary School strives to achieve national standards in the 2017-2018 school year. Photo: Thanh Thuy

In Nam Tan commune, these days, the commune is accelerating the completion of the commune People's Committee office, 8 classrooms for the secondary school, and 4 classrooms for the kindergarten. Despite being a mountainous commune facing many difficulties, with the unity of the people, the commune is directing the transformation of crop and livestock structures, effectively exploiting the strengths of the floodplain area, forming concentrated commodity production areas such as watermelon, carrots, potatoes, and commercial vegetables; developing semi-industrial livestock farming, family farms, and large-scale farms, as well as various types of commercial services...

All of these factors contribute to raising people's income and creating endogenous resources for investment in building new rural areas. Mr. Pham Van Khanh, Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Tan commune, said: At the beginning of 2017, there were still 5 criteria that had not met the standards for new rural areas, but with high determination, the Party Committee and people of Nam Tan have made efforts to implement them through many solutions. In just the first 6 months of the year, Nam Tan completed an additional 3 criteria, raising the number of criteria that met the standards to 17 out of 19 criteria. Thus, there are 2 criteria that are close to being met: schools and the political system and access to law.

In 2017, Nam Dan district strived to have the last five communes – Nam Linh, Nam Tan, Xuan Lam, Khanh Son, and Nam Phuc – achieve the New Rural Area (NRA) status. The district's NRA Steering Committee focused its efforts on promoting unity and cooperation among the people, combined with support from the central and provincial governments, to complete the projects. To date, the five communes have mobilized nearly 170 billion VND, of which 34 billion VND came from people's contributions, with the remainder from integrated funding and other sources.

In particular, 274 households voluntarily donated 15,897 m2 of land, 154 households dismantled over 2,500 m2 of fences, and contributed thousands of man-days to build new rural infrastructure projects. Most communes are highly determined to complete the criteria before the registration deadline, at the latest by October 2017.

Combine harvesters operating in the fields of Nam Dan. Photo: Sy Minh

High efforts are being made to achieve the goal of becoming a New Rural District as soon as possible.

Along with 5 communes striving to achieve the goal, at this time, 18 communes in Nam Dan district that have already met the New Rural Area standards are continuing to improve the criteria in a sustainable direction, such as transforming production, increasing people's income, environmental sanitation, consolidating security and order, and building a strong political system... Mr. Ho Sy Hai - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the New Rural Area Steering Committee of Nam Dan district, said: “Implementing the National Target Program for building New Rural Areas in the period 2010 - 2020, Nam Dan is honored to be selected by the Central Steering Committee as one of the 5 pilot districts nationwide. This is an honor but also a challenge that requires high determination from the entire Party Committee and people of the district. The goal set for 2017 is to build Nam Dan into a New Rural Area district.”

After more than 6 years of implementing the New Rural Development program, Nam Dan district has built 621 km of various types of roads; upgraded and repaired 93.3 km of canals and ditches, 22 pumping stations, and 11 reservoirs and dams; built over 350 new classrooms at schools; built 14 new commune cultural houses, 19 commune headquarters, and 21 commune health stations; upgraded 229 village cultural houses, 12 rural markets, and many other projects.

The total mobilized capital was VND 1,487 billion; of which, the central government budget accounted for VND 90.7 billion (6.1%); the provincial budget with integrated investment accounted for VND 145 billion (9.7%); the district budget with integrated investment accounted for VND 160 billion (10.7%); the commune budget accounted for VND 193.2 billion (13%); people's contributions accounted for VND 319.8 billion (21.5%); enterprise support accounted for VND 98.5 billion (6.6%); and integrated capital from programs and projects in the area accounted for VND 479.8 billion (32.4%). In addition, the people donated 212,355 m2 of land; dismantled and relocated 28,468 m2 of fences, and contributed 66,093 man-days to the construction of new rural areas.

Bitter gourd fields in Nam Anh yield high income. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Regarding the nine criteria groups for a new rural district, Nam Dan has basically met six groups so far, including: irrigation, electricity, production, environment, social security and order, and guidance on building new rural areas. For the remaining three groups, including: planning, transportation, and health - culture - education, the district will focus its efforts on directing and collaborating with ministries, sectors, corporations, and companies to implement these contents, striving to achieve the goal by the end of 2017 according to the planned schedule, making Nam Dan a comprehensively developed district, a model new rural district of the province and the country, worthy of being the homeland of the beloved President Ho Chi Minh.

Thanh Thủy - Thúy Tình