Do Luong: Roads built through the people's efforts.

(Baonghean)In recent years, implementing the national target program for building new rural areas, Do Luong district has accelerated the construction of rural roads, village roads, and alleys, making them clean and beautiful, serving the people's transportation and production activities more conveniently.

Constructing rural roads in Lac Son commune (Do Luong district).

We visited Hoa Son commune – one of the leading localities in the rural road construction movement in Do Luong district. From National Highway 7, every road leading into the commune's hamlets has been upgraded and newly constructed. Hamlet 1 of Hoa Son commune has 121 households and 456 inhabitants. The people's lives mainly depend on agricultural production, but the residents here recognize that building rural roads benefits them, serving crop production and facilitating the convenient transportation of agricultural products. Therefore, they enthusiastically responded, voluntarily contributing cash, donating land, and removing their fences to widen the hamlet roads. Mr. Phan Van Thanh from Hamlet 1, Hoa Son commune, happily shared: "My family voluntarily dismantled 18 meters of our fence and donated 40 square meters of land to widen the road according to the standards of the new rural construction. We are very happy because the village road is now elevated and wide, ensuring convenient transportation, material transport, and crop production."

Not only Mr. Thanh's family, but many households in Hamlet 1, Hoa Son commune, have voluntarily donated land and removed their fences to build roads. For example, Mr. Hoang Nhu De's family voluntarily removed 35 meters of fence and donated 70 square meters of land. Similarly, the families of Mr. Tran Quoc Sau and Mr. Thai Dinh Hoa donated land and filled in ponds to widen the road shoulders. Mr. Phan Van Hoa, head of Hamlet 1, Hoa Son commune, said: "Although it is a purely agricultural area with many difficulties in people's lives, the people here have unanimously supported the national target program on building new rural areas. From 2003 to 2005, the hamlet began building rural roads, and after nearly three years, 2.7 km of concrete village roads were completed. By 2013, implementing the national target program on building new rural areas, the old concrete roads were widened to 6 meters, with people contributing 300,000 VND per person, working together to dig, fill, and expand the road surface." At the beginning of 2014, the hamlet prepared to receive cement from the district to expand the concrete roads within the hamlet to meet the standard width of 6 meters. The main source of funding will come from contributions from the residents, with an estimated initial fundraising of 500,000 to 700,000 VND per person. The hamlet has received the unanimous support of the people, which is a solid foundation for the hamlet and the commune to soon complete the criteria for rural road infrastructure.

Hoa Son is one of the top seven communes in Do Luong district that has been directed to implement the 19 criteria for building new rural areas. Mr. Thai Dinh Huong, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, shared: "Building rural transportation infrastructure is a difficult criterion because it requires significant investment. Hoa Son has a large area, so the local government and all the people must make maximum efforts to work together to achieve this goal. In addition, the commune has mobilized businesses and successful people from the area to support and contribute to the development of their hometown. By early 2014, all roads managed by the commune and hamlets had been marked with boundary markers, and seven roads under the commune's management had been asphalted or concreted." To achieve the goal of building rural and inter-field roads, at the end of 2013, Hoa Son commune allocated over 500 million VND from its budget to upgrade 2 km of asphalt roads. Simultaneously, they proceeded to concrete 2 km of rural and inter-field roads, worth over 1 billion VND, funded by contributions from the people and the commune budget, with cement provided by higher authorities.

In 2014, Hoa Son commune continued to invest in building 2km of rural roads and 2km of village roads under the commune's management. To date, the entire commune has built 32.71km of concrete roads in villages and hamlets. Cement was provided by the province and district, while the people contributed labor, construction materials, and funds to complete these long-awaited roads. Now, the village roads and alleys are wide, clean, and easily accessible for all types of vehicles. People no longer have to worry about muddy and dirty roads during the rainy season.

Visiting Do Luong today, one can clearly feel the new momentum in the villages, perhaps most noticeably the changes beginning with the clean, well-maintained roads, where motorized vehicles glide smoothly. From narrow village lanes and alleys, roads have now been widened according to the new rural development criteria. Inter-commune and inter-village roads, as well as alleyways, have all been expanded according to the plan. Provincial and district support in terms of cement only covers 28-30% of the costs; the rest is contributed by the people in the form of money, labor, and construction materials. Households that donated land for road construction received support from the villagers in terms of labor to dismantle and rebuild the boundary walls, thus creating a high level of harmony and unity among the people. As a result, to date, all 32 communes in the district have successfully implemented the rural road development program. In reality, the demand for concrete rural road construction is very high. Currently, given that the budget from higher levels of government is insufficient to meet local needs, communes have proactively expanded, planned, and modified roads so that construction can proceed smoothly when cement is provided by the province and district.

In addition, Do Luong district called for social mobilization in rural road construction, urging local residents and those living far away to contribute funds to jointly build roads. Notable examples include Mr. Nguyen Trong Phung in Trung Minh hamlet, Minh Son commune, who donated nearly 1 billion VND; the family of Mr. Thai Khac Quyen in Thinh Son commune, who donated 300 million VND to build a new rural road; and the family of Mr. Tu Hien in Thinh Son commune, who donated 500 million VND to build a concrete road in their hamlet…

In the early days of 2014, the people of Do Luong district simultaneously launched the construction of rural and inter-field roads. In the first phase of 2014, the province and Do Luong district provided over 4,000 tons of cement to communes in the area to support the construction of 20 km of Class A rural roads. Over three years (2011-2013), the entire district mobilized 124,248 million VND to build and upgrade 326 km of rural and inter-field roads and 1,726 bridges and culverts for the people. In just two years (2012-2013), 23 communes in the district built nearly 50 km of Class A rural roads with 9,900 tons of cement provided by the province, notably Thuong Son, Trung Son, and Xuan Son communes…

To achieve such positive results, Do Luong district mobilized the internal resources of the entire population to work together on rural road construction. All projects were undertaken and supervised by the people, each understanding that rural road construction would benefit their own families and children, thus fostering a spirit of unity.

Quynh Lan