Need to clarify responsibilities, point out causes, and thoroughly resolve

Final episode: To SHINE THE MEANING OF SUPPORT AND GRATITUDE

It has been 6 years since the first households in the Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir relocated to a new place. The decision to return to the reservoir and accept an uncertain life with lurking dangers by some households partly stems from confusion in production and living in the new environment. In order for the sacrifices of the people in the reservoir area to be properly rewarded, more than ever, the participation of all levels and sectors is needed so that the people can clearly feel the warmth of support and gratitude.

>>Part 5: Fulfilling the responsibilities of an investor

Ngoc Lam resettlement area (Thanh Chuong), we met again Mr. Luong Van Hung - Head of Noong village, Kim Tien (old), Tuong Duong. His new life was very good. But when we mentioned the countryside that had sunk deep under the lake, his eyes suddenly filled with tears. Those eyes told us: How can we not remember, not love, the place where we were born, the place where we grew up with bamboo shoots in the forest, with cool fish, catfish from Nam Non, with rice grains carried back from the distant fields...? Still remember, the day he left his homeland, we were present at his small riverside village to witness the heroic historical moment and the tearful nostalgia of the people of Noong village. All night, Mr. Hung did not sleep. He walked in and out, leaned against the door and looked into the dark forest and mountains. That place was his entire life from childhood to adulthood. Perhaps never before had he felt such a trembling feeling when hearing the rooster calling for dawn like he experienced that day. Mr. Hung did not accept the new house in the resettlement area. He loaded his family's stilt house onto a raft made of rafts. At the last minute, his wife ran to the raft, trying to put the loom she had just disassembled on it. He pushed the raft into the middle of the river, letting it drift downstream. The two of them stood on the raft, looking back at the old land, their village fading away. They stood there with those eyes fixed on it until the raft disappeared around a bend...

Cassava is the main source of income for newly resettled people.
Photo: HUU NGHIA

On the resettlement land, where the green of cassava, acacia, and tea has covered the warm color of prosperity, we thought that a past had gone far away, but we still met those smoky eyes when recalling a countryside. People talked about the rice harvest season, the new rice celebration. They remembered the steep fields, the warm, smoky kitchen drying rice, the smell of young sticky rice, the offering tray where sticky rice was pounded into cakes, with chicken, pork, fish balls... to offer to ancestors. "Now that we are here, there is no more new rice celebration. When the season comes, just reminding our children and grandchildren will help us not forget" - an old person shared. And we also could not forget the haunting song of Ms. Lo Thi Thu, a native of Xop Lam village, Huu Khuong commune (old), Tuong Duong. The song was composed by her, she stood leaning against the door frame of her spacious new house in the resettlement village and sang passionately in Thai (I would like to roughly translate):

Oh how I miss you
Foam Lam has wild cassava
Listen, people.
Foam Lam we have star fruit tree
The ripe fruit brightens the village
There is a co xan tree by the stream that we often pick fruit from.
There are trees along the big stream.
There are banana trees along the long stream welcoming guests from afar.
Oh from now on I only have a strange way
Hope to return one day to find the tadpole
Go into the crevice to find a leaf to lie down on.
I left my mother and no one came to visit me.
Leaving brothers without anyone to talk to
Let me send my regards to anyone still in Muong Lam.
I in Muong Lam pick up gold like people pick up silkworms in a basket.
Oh my…

So, it is not just leaving a piece of land, a house, but also a homeland with a deep history, culture, customs... for generations. It can be said that the sacrifice of the people in the lake area is a great sacrifice that is boundless. There are people who, because of hardship, for a living, or wandering, leave their homeland, maybe for 5 years, 10 years or almost their whole life, but there is still a homeland to remember, love, and if conditions permit, they can return. As for the people in the lake area, all those memories have been forever submerged deep in the water. The graves of their ancestors and grandparents. The villages, streams, creeks. Even the legends... Here, it is still the old village name, but where is the steep road, where is the sound of buffalo bells lost in the afternoon forest, where is the ancient tower that is said to be the vestige of the ancient O Du people, where is Mo Tom Xieng Lam, the stalactites in Tham Nam? Where are the sounds of gongs and drums calling people back to the village festival? All of them have been left behind since the time when people carried, carried or tied up rafts, picked up incense bowls and placed them in a corner, next to them were the family's belongings, and on the other side were their young children, to take their first steps into a new space.

Such is the sacrifice, but somewhere, that sacrifice has not been named, has not been taken into account. In previous articles, we have pointed out many responsibilities of agencies, units, localities, including the places of departure and destination of our compatriots. Especially the units that are directly doing business and benefiting today. It must be said that the fault lies with us, when we still allow the situation of people returning to their old hometowns, making a living full of uncertainties, some people lacking land for production, the allocation of land for production is too slow, the resettlement housing system is seriously degraded, and the arrangement is unreasonable. It is really sad to hold in our hands a summary of data of resettlement villages without rice fields, without drainage ditches, without schools, or with schools, with cultural houses but they are damaged, degraded, without funds to buy equipment for medical stations... and that number is not small. There are other sad things, even the villages near the lake are still "blacked out" (7/7 villages of Huu Khuong commune, Tuong Duong currently do not have electricity)...

We must frankly admit that, among the thousands and tens of thousands of people who have had to resettle over the years for the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country, the most difficult and disadvantaged people are still the people living in the hydroelectric reservoir. Not only have they lost their familiar livelihood environment, but they have also lost their cultural and spiritual environment with institutions and customs that have been built over many generations. They have started their lives in climate, soil, and living environments that are mostly very different. Therefore, implementing policies for the people in a complete and comprehensive manner must be the first thing to be considered, there is no reason to delay. Do not think that just compensating a little money, building resettlement houses, and providing land for production is enough to fulfill the responsibility. Don't just look at the bright lights of the resettlement area and compare it with the dim oil lamps in the deep forests and mountains before, don't just look at the flat asphalt road and think it's too good compared to the steep slope, don't just look at the amount of money and subsidized rice to compare with the sweat of wading through streams, climbing mountains to get to the fields, or working hard day and night to cast nets to catch fish... Please don't think that simply. Does anyone know that the clumsy hand that has been picking tea for years has become accustomed to the knife used to clear the fields, the feet wearing soft sandals walking on the asphalt road that is used to stepping on slippery slopes, on sharp rocks, and in that way of thinking, there are no seasonal calculations for fertilizers, seeds..., but only knowing each shallow and deep section of the Nam Non River, knowing the tide for the season of catfish, cool fish, and scad fish...? So, all policies, no matter how good, have they fully accounted for those sacrifices and disadvantages? Who will pay enough for the longing, for the longing, for the deep roots that one day we suddenly abandoned and left? For the surprised footsteps, for the loneliness, for the sleepless nights looking towards that place, where our grandparents and ancestors lie?

No, it will not be enough to just count by the numbers of trees, animals, houses, compensation money. More than ever, the resettled people in the reservoir area need hands, not just to offer a fishing rod or fish, but also the kindness, warmth of sharing and understanding. Let that surprise and strangeness be dispelled by a heart of hospitality. Let's hold the hands that are used to slash-and-burn farming until they get used to growing cassava, growing tea, walk with those feet on the road leading to the market, to the school, stay up with them on those restless nights... Let's start right now, not just a few levels of sectors but require the practical participation of all sectors, agencies, and organizations. Who, if not the Ethnic Minorities Committee, must take responsibility for inspecting and supervising the implementation of policies for the people, pointing out the good and the bad, and from there give advice on how to handle them? Who else is it, if not the Department of Agriculture, that sends technical staff to "hold hands and show people how to do things" to help people approach and get acquainted with new farming methods (practice plowing with machines, practice growing wet rice, intensive cassava, peanuts, corn, etc.), especially when the project to plant 536 hectares of industrial tea is about to be implemented with the desire to create sustainable livelihoods for people, redefine the area of ​​land that can be reclaimed, and re-plan the irrigation network? Who else is it, if not the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, that issues certificates of land use rights for residential land and production land? Who else is it, if not the Youth Union, on volunteer Saturdays and green Sundays, returning to the villages, fencing gardens with people, cleaning houses, and guiding children in their studies? Who else is it, if not the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels, that bear the responsibility of mobilizing people to effectively implement policies and guidelines, overcome difficulties to build a new homeland, and at the same time propose solutions to problems and shortcomings? Who, if not the Health sector, is concerned with building clinics, medical facilities, human resources and equipment... to ensure health care for the people? Who, if not the Children's Support Fund, needs to pay attention to children in difficult circumstances, children who drop out of school to return to their hometowns with their parents? Who, if not the Education sector, is responsible for ensuring learning and filling long-standing knowledge gaps for students in resettlement areas? What could be more practical than a movement towards the resettlement areas of the people in the reservoir area for all agencies, departments and sectors? The campaign "Studying and following Uncle Ho's example" of the Provincial Party Committee has promoted well for many years "each unit helps a poor commune", then the campaign "Each Party member helps a poor household" should be directed more than ever towards the resettlement areas... Hydropower plants should allocate part of the welfare fund, or part of the annual profits to support the migrants in difficulty; The local government where the people settle down should create the most favorable conditions to support and help them integrate, and most of all, the people where they come from should open their arms. It is not only a sharing, but also a gratitude for the many hardships and sacrifices that can be named and cannot be named of the people for the electricity of the Fatherland.

And today, returning to the lake, the same old motorboat but smoothly drifting on the vast, clear lake, we cannot help but think of the streets with bright lights and flowers, the generators gradually connecting to the national grid… All of that joy and beauty was born from the sacrifices of the people in the Hydroelectric Reservoir. Deep within is the homeland, the ancestral graves, the career built for a lifetime and many lifetimes, a corner of the soul of those who were born and raised there.

PV Group