"Building" new rural areas in Nam Thuong

(Baonghean) - ...These days, Nam Thuong commune (Nam Dan district) is simultaneously launching a campaign to build rural roads with the determination to achieve the goal of building new rural areas in 2015.

With priority cement support from the Provincial People's Committee, in the second quarter of 2015, all five hamlets of Nam Thuong commune enthusiastically launched campaigns to build internal village roads. Leading the way was Hamlet 2, which in a short time completed the main road of the hamlet, nearly 1km long and 5m wide. Notably, during the construction process, a section of road quite long (250-300m) required contributions from only 14 households, with a mobilization amount of 6-7 million VND per household, yet everyone enthusiastically contributed fully. Mr. Nguyen Van Truong, from Hamlet 2, said: “After the commune launched the campaign, the people immediately started working. The government's cement support included a 3m wide concrete road surface, but the hamlet paved it to 5m wide, significantly increasing the cost. However, we mobilized additional support from our children living away from home to ensure the project was completed.”

People in Nam Thuong commune are building rural roads.

Following the initiative of Hamlet 2, the Party Committee and the government of Nam Thuong commune focused on leading and directing the expansion to over 100% of the hamlets, creating a "revolution" in mobilizing internal resources to resolutely complete the transportation criteria as soon as possible, creating momentum to shorten the roadmap to achieving the goal of building a New Rural Area. With that spirit, despite many difficulties in life, dozens of households volunteered to contribute more than the assigned target, ranging from 8 to 10 million VND. Typical examples include the families of Mr. Tran Trong Due, Mr. Nguyen Canh Hoai, and Ms. Dinh Thi Nga in Hamlet 5, former Youth Volunteers and policy beneficiary families, who each volunteered to contribute 10 million VND, encouraging the entire hamlet to follow suit. Ms. Dinh Thi Nga said: "Although we are still facing difficulties, all families volunteered to contribute to road construction because we understand the benefits both now and in the long term..."

Nam Thuong is a commune that is both mountainous and located in a flood-prone area, frequently facing difficulties due to annual droughts and floods. Therefore, its starting point for building a New Rural Area was low, with only 5 criteria initially meeting the standards. However, after more than 4 years of implementing the New Rural Area program, thanks to the dynamism of the Party committee and the government in securing support from various programs and projects, coupled with fostering self-reliance and maximizing the internal resources of the people, Nam Thuong has mobilized a total capital of over 30 billion VND, of which the people contributed 50%. Thanks to focused and targeted investment, ensuring suitability to the requirements of each item at each stage, by the end of 2014 the commune had achieved 17 out of 19 criteria according to the national New Rural Area construction criteria.

Regarding the transportation criterion, although it has basically met the standards as stipulated, it is not yet truly sustainable. Therefore, the commune's determination this time is to invest in upgrading all rural transportation routes to ensure quality, creating momentum for the implementation of the remaining criteria. Mr. Nguyen Thuc Phao, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Thuong commune, said: Currently, the commune only has two criteria left to meet: the health station and the school. However, thanks to securing project funding, construction has already begun. In addition, although the transportation criterion has been met, it is not yet truly sustainable, so the commune continues to encourage residents to upgrade and expand it so that the commune can achieve the New Rural Area (NRA) goal on schedule by November 2015.

The enthusiastic and urgent spirit in the New Rural Development movement of the Party Committee and people of Nam Thuong commune has truly contributed to further momentum, creating a strong ripple effect and affirming the strength of "the Party's will and the people's hearts" right before the Nam Dan District Party Congress for the 2015-2020 term.

Hong Hanh