The 'prisoner' in Kim Lien

Peace at the gateway to the homeland

Although we have heard a lot about the "prisoner" of Lien Mau 3 hamlet, it was only when we directly met and talked with Mr. Phan Van Nghiem (born in 1948) that we could feel the enthusiasm and dedication of this Party cell secretary.

Having been a Party cell secretary for 15 years, Mr. Phan Van Nghiem is still enthusiastic about his work partly because he has a strong rear base and partly because he has the trust and confidence of the people. Photo: An Quynh

Lien Mau 3 Hamlet is home to 139 households, 526 people with an area of ​​up to 102.5 hectares (based on the merger of Lien Mau 5 and Lien Mau 6 Hamlets). People in the area originally came from many rural areas to settle down and live here. Therefore, in order to create unity and solidarity in the community, in his position as the head of the hamlet, Party Cell Secretary Phan Van Nghiem, together with the hamlet Party Committee and Management Board, proposed to the Party Committee, authorities and functional agencies to coordinate in implementing many solutions to maintain security, order and traffic safety.

Recalling a few years ago, Mr. Nghiem said: The area of ​​National Highway 46 through Lien Mau 3 hamlet (Kim Lien commune) used to be a black spot, where traffic accidents often occurred. From 2018 to 2022, nearly 20 traffic accidents occurred in this area, killing many victims, including 3 citizens in the hamlet. Therefore, people are very worried when passing through this road.

Realizing the anxiety and insecurity of the people, in addition to coordinating with local authorities and functional agencies to plan and install traffic signs, Mr. Phan Van Nghiem and party members in the cell have proactively taken the initiative to direct traffic during rush hours. Up to now, this activity has become regular, during rush hours or holidays, at main intersections on the commune road, members of the Self-Management Group voluntarily take the initiative to direct traffic lanes, ensuring traffic safety for the people. The number of traffic accidents has therefore decreased significantly, along with that, the trust of local people in village cadres has gradually increased.

“Living in the gateway to Uncle Ho’s hometown, I, like the locals, only want to leave beautiful impressions in the hearts of tourists visiting President Ho Chi Minh’s hometown. Therefore, I and the Front Work Committee have taken the lead in regulating traffic and promoting people to obey and comply with traffic laws. Only when we set an example will people trust and follow us.”

Not only that, Mr. Nghiem also actively mobilized prestigious and exemplary people in the neighborhood to participate.grassroots self-management systemto grasp and promptly resolve incidents in the area, avoiding small conflicts becoming big conflicts. “Seeing the village and hamlet change, the people unite, help each other, and maintain security, order, and peace in the village is the motivation for us to ‘get older, get higher’” - Mr. Nghiem said.

Secretary "reconciliation"

With 15 years of experience as the Party Secretary of the hamlet, Head of the Front Work Committee, and a member of the Self-Management Team, Mr. Phan Van Nghiem has successfully resolved many conflicts and disputes among the people, maintained security and order in the hamlet, and prevented the situation of petitions going beyond the level. Regarding family conflicts, from 2019 to now, the mediation teams of Lien Mau 3 hamlet have successfully mediated 3 cases. The most remarkable achievement was the case of Mr. L and Ms. T. Due to work reasons far from home, the young couple who had been married for 1 year had conflicts, leading to a request for divorce. In addition to finding out the cause, propagating and mobilizing each person, Mr. Phan Van Nghiem also organized 3 meetings at the cultural house, inviting the parents of both sides as well as organizations to coordinate in mediation. Thanks to that, Mr. L and Ms. T got back together and are now one of the exemplary households, leading in the hamlet's movements.

What Mr. Nghiem believes is that we must really stick close to the people and understand their feelings to solve the problem. Photo: An Quynh

Sharing his experience in reconciliation, Mr. Nghiem said: "To be able to reconcile, we must be thorough, understand the reasons for the conflict, use "reasonable and emotional" words to analyze, listen to the opinions and legitimate wishes of both sides, and from there have appropriate solutions to propagate and resolve the conflict."

At the time when the hamlet was striving to build a new countryside, it was necessary to mobilize people to rebuild the infrastructure. Mr. Phan Van Nghiem, together with the Party Committee, the Front Committee, and the hamlet management board, worked hard to propagate and mobilize. Therefore, when the plan to build a community cultural house was proposed, it was enthusiastically responded by the people. The investment capital was up to 1.6 billion VND. Thanks to the good work of ensuring security and order, maintaining the Sang - Xanh - Clean - Beautiful hamlet, Lien Mau 3 hamlet excellently won the third prize at the district level in the movement to build model rural areas, typical residential areas, civilized urban areas and was also the leading unit of Kim Lien commune in the patriotic emulation movement in the period 2015 - 2021.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Khoa - Chairman of the Association of the Elderly in Nam Dan district commented: Mr. Phan Van Nghiem is not only "good at mobilizing people" but also a shining example of an elderly person participating in maintaining security, order and peace in the village. With his contributions, Mr. Phan Van Nghiem was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Director of Nghe An Provincial Police for his outstanding achievements in the movement of All People Protecting National Security in the period of 2016 - 2021. He has also just been recognized as a typical advanced elderly person in the movement of All People Protecting National Security organized by the Nam Dan District Police in coordination with the Association of the Elderly in the district.