Thanh Chuong: Increasing capital for loans to poor households in resettlement areas

(Baonghean)To help people in the two communes of Ban Ve Hydropower Resettlement Area stabilize their lives and escape poverty quickly, the Provincial Bank for Social Policies has prioritized increasing capital for lending to poor households. Thanh Chuong District People's Committee has also directed departments and offices to increase support and help people with techniques and production methods so that the loan capital can be used safely and effectively...

It has been more than 6 years since the first households moved to their new homes, and for the same amount of time, the people in Thanh Chuong resettlement area have been struggling to find ways to survive, but are still struggling with hunger and poverty and cannot escape the wavering between "staying" or "returning". To help the people in the two communes resettled by Ban Ve Hydropower Plant stabilize their lives, the province and all levels have had flexible and specific policies for them. However, the reality is that most of the resettled people still have the habit of exploiting what is available in nature, and due to the barren and eroded land conditions in the resettlement area and lack of capital, it is very difficult to stabilize their lives.



Model of linking poor households to produce unburnt bricks in Noong village, Ngoc Lam commune

As mentioned above, in order to have a strong capital solution, the Provincial Social Policy Bank has recently directed the Thanh Chuong District Social Policy Bank to prioritize increasing the disbursement of capital for poor households in Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes with a total loan capital of 5 billion VND/ 8 billion VND for the poor in the whole district this time. Mr. Le Huu Suu - Director of Thanh Chuong Social Policy Bank said: "Up to this point, we have completed the disbursement of capital for resettled people. The District Social Policy Bank is actively coordinating with departments and offices to train people on how to manage and use loan capital safely and effectively". It can be said that it is not unusual for poor people in the resettlement area of ​​Ban Ve Hydropower Plant to access preferential capital for poor households from the Government, but it is no longer rare for many people to use that loan capital to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty in new lands. In Ta Xieng village (Ngoc Lam commune), Mr. Lo Van Dan's family, 3 years ago, thanks to a loan of 10 million VND from the poor household loan program, boldly invested in raising sows and pigs, buying a milling machine, selling groceries... and now his family has escaped poverty, becoming a comprehensive household economic model for people to learn and follow. Mr. Dan said that early next year he will repay the loan to the bank ahead of schedule. In Noong village, the poor household linkage model is very creative.

Those are the three households of Vi Van Hai, Vi Van Tuan and Vi Van Thao, who, when receiving loans from poor households, pooled their available capital to buy brick presses and open a non-fired brick factory. Although only in operation for 3 months, the non-fired brick factory in Ban Noong has become a familiar address for people when they need to buy construction materials... The movement of resettled people borrowing capital from the Bank for Social Policies to build a sustainable poverty reduction model has also spread strongly in Thanh Son commune, the effective pig farming model of Ms. Luong Thi Hien, Kim Chuong village. Thanks to the loan from poor households, Ms. Hien has taken advantage of vegetables and fruits in the garden, invested in raising sows, pigs for meat, and porcupines, selling nearly 2 tons of pork each year for an income of tens of millions of dong.

Ms. Huong, Chairwoman of Thanh Son Commune Women's Union, said that the total outstanding loan balance entrusted through the Commune Women's Union has so far reached over 1.7 billion VND with 4 loans: loans for poor households, loans for households with special difficulties, loans for labor export and loans for students. In order for the loan capital from the Bank for Social Policies to be effective, the Commune Women's Union is directing 6 loan groups under 6 branches to build a model for hunger eradication and poverty reduction using loan capital effectively for member households to learn and follow.

A very clear fact in the two resettlement communes is that although the Bank for Social Policies has increased its lending capital to poor households, the rate of poor households benefiting from this credit program is still low, reaching only nearly 60% of the total number of poor households in the commune. For example, Ngoc Lam commune has 1,367 households, the poverty rate is over 87% (about 1,200 poor households), but the number of households receiving loans is only 677 households with outstanding loans of 5,992 million VND, the number of credit programs has only implemented 5/8 programs. The reason for this inadequacy, according to the Party Secretary of Luong Quang Canh commune, is that households are not eligible for loans, mainly because the land is not specific and has not been granted a Land Use Rights Certificate. To ensure that the loans for poor households in resettlement areas are safe and effective, Thanh Chuong district has been directing relevant departments and offices to support people such as: the Agricultural Extension Station provides training on techniques for planting new crops; mass organizations support plant and animal varieties; coordinate with the provincial Industrial Promotion Center to open brocade weaving and bamboo and rattan weaving classes...

In particular, the district is planning to implement an industrial tea planting project in the resettlement area on an area of ​​543 hectares. The Department of Science and Technology is also piloting the project "Creating livelihoods for resettled people" such as piloting the planting of aromatic root trees that both have the function of preventing erosion, avoiding damage by buffaloes and cows and providing high income; planting grafted black canarium trees on the banks of plots and fields; growing clean vegetables using safe methods... Vice Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Van Que said: The district focuses on investing in capital, science and technology based on programs and projects... so that people in the two resettled communes can change their thinking and ways of doing business on the land, thereby quickly integrating and stabilizing their lives.

Huu Nghia