Bustling large irrigation construction site...

(Baonghean) - Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau) is the place where the auxiliary dams, canals and drainage canals of the Ban Mong Reservoir Irrigation Project are being implemented. With the support of local people and authorities at all levels, the site clearance work has been well carried out, creating favorable conditions for the contractor to ensure the progress of the construction. And to ensure long-term stability, attention is needed to solve the problem of land for production for people after resettlement...

Bustling construction site

Coming to Chau Binh (Quy Chau) on a day at the end of May, the sun was blazing hot, but at the construction site of the Ban Mong Reservoir Irrigation Project, hundreds of excavators, large trucks, machinery and equipment along with a large number of workers were working very urgently. The construction items of the auxiliary dam, the drainage canal and the Chau Binh drainage canal started on October 12, 2014, and are expected to be completed in about 2 years (by the end of 2016). Therefore, the construction unit - Corporation 36 (Ministry of National Defense) mobilized 2 main units, Companies 36.32 and 36.20, to bring hundreds of machines and equipment to the construction site.

On the construction site of Chau Binh drainage canal - Ban Mong Reservoir Project.

According to Mr. Vu Van Giang - Construction Site Manager, immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony, Corporation 36 deployed the construction of camps, gathered machinery, equipment and materials for construction. At Chau Binh construction site, there are currently 44 excavators, 70 cars; 16 bulldozers, rollers, graders and many other construction machinery and equipment; in addition, the permanent workforce working at the construction site ranges from 200 - 230 people. And to ensure progress, despite the harsh weather, officers and workers of Corporation 36 still organize to work continuously in 3 shifts/day. Currently, Company 36.32 and Company 36.20 are organizing 4 construction teams of Chau Binh drainage canal, sections Km 1+217 - Km2+94, K2+200 - K3+100, K3+100 -K4+000 and Km4+418 - Km5+83; bridge No. 1A, bridge No. 2, bridge No. 3 and bridge No. 9.

Mr. Vu Van Giang excitedly said that currently, the units of Corporation 36 are focusing on construction to ensure the completion of progress. The volume of soil for digging Chau Binh drainage canal alone has reached about 40%. To have such a volume of work, we are very grateful for the attention and drastic direction of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee; besides, the support of the people and authorities at all levels of Quy Chau district in carrying out the site clearance work. From January 21 to April 1, 2015, we have received the site in 3 phases, including the site of Chau Binh drainage canal from Km0 - Km6+ 100, the site of waste dumps No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; the site of construction road No. 1, 1A, 2, 3, 5, 6; the site of the road to auxiliary dam 3; Construction site of bridge No. 9. Currently, only the Chau Binh drainage canal site from Km 6+100 to K8+109 (through Quy Hop district) and the lake channel site (Village 3-2, Chau Binh) have not been handed over. As far as I know, compensation and site clearance are currently in the process...".

Along the construction site of the Ban Mong Reservoir Irrigation Project in Chau Binh Commune, there are still traces of many families who have given up their residential land, production land, and houses to move to a new place for the project to be implemented. Besides, there are many families who are very busy completing their new places. Visiting some families, although working hard under the hot sun, everyone is happy to have visitors. At the household of Mr. Nguyen Khac De (Quynh 1 village, Chau Binh), Mr. De's eldest son, Mr. Nguyen Khac Cao (32 years old), said that his family received 1.3 billion VND in compensation. Immediately after that, he spent 400 million VND to buy 7 sao of land, which is where the current house is built. The remaining amount is just enough to build a new house and buy essential items. Mr. Nguyen Khac Cao happily said: "Rebuilding from scratch is extremely difficult. However, we determined that there must be sacrifices to have a project that is truly beneficial for the future, so we are all very excited...".

Care aboutland for production

Learning about the site clearance work to implement the items of the Ban Mong Reservoir Irrigation Project in Quy Chau, it is known that 364 households will have to relocate, in addition, the State must reclaim 1,221.8 hectares of land; of which, Chau Binh commune alone has 168 households to relocate (60 households affected by the auxiliary dam system, drainage canal and reservoir canal; 108 households of Binh Quang village are flooded by the Ban Mong reservoir); reclaiming 417.6 hectares of land.

Mr. Nguyen Khac De's household (Quynh 1 village, Chau Binh) built a new house after giving up land to carry out the project.

Regarding the site clearance work for the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, according to Mr. Lo Thanh Son, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and Vice Chairman of the Compensation and Site Clearance Council of Quy Chau district, because of the participation of the entire political system, the awareness of the people in the project's affected area is basically very good. Therefore, the implementation of compensation and resettlement support in the past time has achieved encouraging results. Mr. Lo Thanh Son said: "Our plan is to complete the site clearance work for the auxiliary dam, Chau Binh drainage canal and reservoir channel by July 2015, and then move on to the work of compensation, support and resettlement of the Ban Mong reservoir area for related organizations, households and individuals. However, one issue that needs to be addressed by the competent authorities is to create a land fund for Quy Chau to allocate land to people for production and stabilize their lives after relocation and resettlement...".

In fact, the People's Committee of Quy Chau district has submitted documents on land recovery of Co Ba Forestry Farm and Quy Chau Forestry Farm to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, proposing to consider recovering 2,302.6 hectares of land from the two forest farms; of which, 771 hectares of land belongs to Co Ba Forestry Farm in Chau Binh commune to have land to give to the people. According to Mr. Ngo Duc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quy Chau district, an encouraging thing is that most people understand the functions and benefits of the Ban Mong Reservoir Project, so it has created favorable conditions for the project to be implemented. However, most of the people's livelihoods are from farming. To implement the project, the households that had to be relocated had almost all of their residential land, garden land, and agricultural land recovered. Therefore, the State must have production land to give back to the people to ensure a stable life in the long term.

Going to Quy Chau and Chau Binh, we saw the shape of Ban Mong Reservoir, through which, we felt the support of the people for this large irrigation project. To complete the project's idea, the competent authorities need to pay attention to consider and quickly resolve the issue of land for production for the people after resettlement so that they can ensure a stable life in the long term.

Nhat Lan