"Struggling" with traffic in Tan Ky

(Baonghean) - Although the rainy season hasn't arrived yet, the transportation system in Tan Ky district remains very difficult. Our slow-moving 4x4 vehicle took us to Phu Son commune, a 30km journey that took almost an hour and a half. The dirt road was churned up by vehicles transporting sugarcane and cassava, and was severely damaged with numerous potholes, leaving many remote communes in the district almost completely isolated.

The Nghia Hanh-Phu Son road project, which began in 2009, remains unfinished due to a lack of funding, causing difficulties for local residents, especially in transporting sugarcane, cassava, and acacia trees for sale. To date, after four extensions, only 8 out of 19 km of the asphalt road from Nghia Hanh to Phu Son has been completed. The Phu Son bridge over the Con River has had about half of its girders finished, but it remains suspended precariously on a few pillars in the middle of the river, forcing residents to cross daily by ferry. Due to funding difficulties, the original contractor, Contrexin 16 Company, abandoned the project. Hoa Hiep Company Limited has replaced them. However, as of mid-July, construction was still stalled. Speaking with Mr. Pham Dinh Hanh, Director of Hoa Hiep Company Limited, he stated: "Due to a lack of funds, the company has had to halt construction and we don't know when we can resume."

The unfinished construction of Phu Son Bridge is affecting the travel of local residents.

The lives of the people in Huong Son commune (commune 135) have been miserable for a long time because they don't know when the main road passing through the commune will be repaired and upgraded. Only 4.7 out of 126 km of the road is paved, but even that has already peeled off, leaving only gravel and potholes everywhere. During the rainy season, people in the hamlets try to fix it by dumping truckloads of soil, but the more they dump, the muddier it becomes. Huong Son commune has 260 hectares of sugarcane, 250 hectares of cassava, and many areas of acacia trees. Sugarcane yield is about 50 tons/hectare, meaning each crushing season, the commune produces 12,500 tons of sugarcane, equivalent to 1,250 truckloads of sugarcane and about the same number of truckloads of cassava. Because the Phu Son bridge is not yet completed, 280 hectares of sugarcane and 170 hectares of cassava from Phu Son commune have to be transported through this bridge, causing the road to be constantly churned up...

The asphalt road leading to Huong Son commune has completely peeled off.

Ms. Ho Thi Thanh, from Hamlet 4, Huong Son Commune, said: “My family has 23 hectares of acacia trees and 2 hectares of sugarcane. The biggest difficulty is transportation; sometimes, even after harvesting the sugarcane, the trucks can't get in for a whole week. The same goes for acacia trees; traders offer low prices because transportation is so difficult. Every time we harvest sugarcane or acacia, the whole hamlet has to gather to repair the roads, but they break down again after being repaired…” Mr. Vo Minh Hien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Huong Son Commune, said: “Every year, the commune requests funding from the district for repairs. In 2014, we received 50 million VND, and the Song Con Sugar Factory contributed 17 million VND, but it was only enough to lay gravel for temporary use, and it broke down again after a few days. We hope the Song Con Sugar Factory will provide more funding…”

The road from Tan An to Dong Van and Tien Ky communes is also severely damaged with many potholes and ruts, and many sections are unpaved. A heavy rain and passing trucks turn the road into a muddy field. This 28-kilometer road was planned for maintenance and repair in 2014-2015, but due to a lack of funding, it is deteriorating further. The Giai Xuan - Tan Hop road, which runs through Tan Ky's main sugarcane growing area, is also completely ruined. This sugarcane road, put into use in 2002 and formerly known as the district's "green road network," is now in serious disrepair. After each rainy season, residents of Tan Hop, Giai Xuan, Dong Van, Ky Tan, and Tien Ky communes are busy repairing the road, but they can only manage to fill it with soil or dump a few truckloads of crushed stone.

Faced with the dilapidated condition of roads causing difficulties in daily life and economic development, farmers in the district have joined forces to repair the roads. In some communes, each family contributed an average of 2.5 million VND, not including labor, to build roads, such as Ky Tan commune. Some households even spent 30 million VND or 10 million VND on road repairs. The Song Con Sugar Factory also actively supported road repairs, but it was like "a drop in the ocean," fixing one section only for another to break down. Tan Ky district currently has 362 km of roads (including both asphalt and concrete roads), of which 12 district roads have a total length of 217 km. With the participation of the people in building new rural areas, many village roads have been concreted, making them much better than the main roads.

Mr. Pham Van Hoa, Chairman of the Tan Ky District People's Committee, said: "During the past term, the district has taken advantage of resources from the central and provincial governments to construct important projects: the Tan Hop - Thung Khien Eco-tourism Area road, the Giai Xuan - Tan Phu road, the access road to the Ro ferry suspension bridge in Nghia Dong commune, and concrete roads under the National Target Program for New Rural Development... The goal is to have at least 60% of commune roads paved with asphalt or concrete by the end of 2015; and 55% of village and hamlet roads hardened. However, there are still many difficulties regarding funding, so many roads are seriously degraded. The district is requesting continued attention from higher authorities to maintain and repair severely damaged roads and prevent erosion on the left bank of the Con River near Roi Bridge."

Chau Lan