Nam Dan and the pressure to achieve the New Rural Area (NRA) goal.

(Baonghean) - In 2017, Nam Dan district registered to build a new rural area, and now the pressure to achieve this goal by the end of this year is quite challenging.

Concerns at the grassroots level

When Nam Dan district was designated as a new rural district, it faced many difficulties. Currently, the district still has 5 communes that have not met the new rural standards: Khanh Son, Nam Tan, Xuan Lam, Nam Linh, and Nam Phuc. These communes must be directed to continue completing the criteria to achieve the new rural standard, no later than the third quarter of 2017, for higher-level assessment. Communes that have already been recognized as meeting the new rural standards must also review the contents and criteria to develop plans for each hamlet, proposing specific solutions to ensure compliance with regulations and improve the quality of the achieved criteria.

New rural concrete road in Xuan Lam commune (Nam Dan district). Photo: Chau Lan

We arrived in Xuan Lam commune while it was already quite busy with work and the pressure of meeting the New Rural Area (NRA) targets was imminent. It's a purely agricultural commune with a sprawling terrain; even in summer, the village roads and alleys remain muddy due to stagnant water. There's so much work to be done for a commune still struggling economically...

According to Mr. Nguyen Thac Duong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Xuan Lam commune: Currently, the commune has met 15 criteria according to the new set of criteria, however, there are still 4 criteria that have not been met: transportation, schools, cultural facilities, the political system, and access to law. In addition, some criteria have been met but are not yet sustainable; for example, the criteria for a green, clean, and beautiful environment, and national defense and security.

Another difficulty is that the criteria for the political system and village cultural centers have not yet met the standards. The commune's stadium has only recently been planned and the site has not yet been built. The estimated investment for the stadium is about 2.5 billion VND, but the funding is insufficient. Regarding irrigation, Xuan Lam commune still faces water shortages and needs to concrete a 1.2 km canal from the main Xuan Lam 1 irrigation station, costing 1.8 billion VND; however, funding remains a problem. Given these difficulties, Xuan Lam commune requests the Provincial People's Committee to allocate funds and provide additional cement for village road construction. Furthermore, the commune will resolutely implement the remaining criteria that are still lacking.

In Nam Phuc commune, a disadvantaged commune in Nam Dan district, 15 out of 19 criteria for the New Rural Development program have been met so far, with 4 criteria remaining unmet: transportation, poverty reduction, schools, and forms of production organization. These are also core criteria for the current New Rural Development program. The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Mr. Phan Van Khanh, stated: At the beginning of 2017, the poverty rate in Nam Phuc commune was 6.5%. By the end of the third quarter of 2017, the commune was determined to review and reduce this rate to 5%. To date, the commune has established an agricultural cooperative, although its effectiveness is not yet high. Furthermore, transportation infrastructure has only reached 65.1%. To achieve the goal of completing the New Rural Development program, the entire political system in the area is strengthening management, direction, and implementation of the program in all fields, monitoring the situation, and resolving difficulties at the grassroots level.

In Nam Linh commune, the progress towards achieving the New Rural Area (NRA) goals is better. Health insurance and cultural facilities have not yet been met, while other criteria have been largely achieved. In the first five months of 2017, the commune constructed 5 km of concrete roads using 1,130 tons of cement, and transportation within the hamlets has basically met the standards. The primary school is nearing completion of its structural work. In the first five months of the year, 10 hamlets completed the upgrading of their cultural centers, built grounds, and invested in infrastructure.

The commune is eagerly awaiting the completion of the main road within its territory, which is managed by the district. Regarding road construction, Mr. Nguyen Van Son, head of Hamlet 12 in Nam Linh commune, said: In addition to repairing and upgrading the community center, the hamlet has also mobilized 450,000 VND per household to complete the concrete road within the hamlet.

Growing Korean yellow melons in Nam Xuan commune (Nam Dan district). Photo: Chau Lan

Time pressure

In the construction of new rural areas in Nam Dan district, many communes have only focused on building rural roads, neglecting environmental sanitation, beautifying rural landscapes, and developing the economy. Regarding the production organization criterion, the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has directly worked with and guided all five communes, but to date, two communes (Nam Linh and Nam Tan) still lack development models; one commune (Xuan Lam) has not yet restructured its cooperative according to the 2012 Cooperative Law; and one commune (Nam Linh) has not yet established a new cooperative. Besides the communes that have not yet achieved the new rural area status, those that have also achieved it need to improve the quality of their criteria according to the new standards.

With the attention and support of higher authorities and relevant departments, the district is focusing on directing efforts to meet the criteria of a New Rural District. Regarding production, Nam Dan has directed communes to implement chain-linked models, including: TK10 peanuts in Khanh Son commune linked with the Agricultural Institute; Thien Uu 8 rice seeds in Xuan Hoa, Nam Phuc, Nam Kim, and Xuan Lam communes linked with the Central Seed Company No. 1; and Nam Xuan Xanh Cooperative implementing a safe vegetable production model. The district has also directed Xuan Hoa commune to establish a safe vegetable production cooperative in Hamlet 8...

Commenting on the construction of new rural areas in Nam Dan, Mr. Nguyen Van Hang - Deputy Head of the Provincial New Rural Area Coordination Office, added: There are many subjective and objective reasons, however, to achieve the goal of becoming a new rural district with requirements such as no outstanding debt, having cooperatives, cooperatives having supply chains with businesses to ensure output for farmers, communes having recreational areas for children and the elderly, criteria for building a political system with a clean and strong Party committee, and criteria for transportation meeting standards... requires a great deal of effort from Nam Dan district, as well as timely attention and solutions from higher levels.

Chau Lan