Commune collects money for rice harvesters in Yen Thanh: Is there 'protection' or not?

(Baonghean.vn) - The situation of brokers and protection of rice harvesters has been happening quietly but very complicatedly in Yen Thanh district in recent times. To prevent this situation, communes currently have different ways of doing things, including Bac Thanh.

Story in Bac Thanh

In recent days, information that Bac Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) collected 2 million VND/rice harvester and required the harvester owners to sign a commitment to operate has caused bad public opinion among the people.

One of the people who called, Mr. Nguyen Duy Bang - the head of hamlet 3, said: To be able to harvest rice for the people, he had to sign a commitment and pay 2 million VND as a field fee to the Commune Police Department.

According to Mr. Bang, those who want to use harvesters to harvest rice for the people must commit to harvesting rice for the people at the right price. Specifically, the high rice fields must not exceed 160,000 VND/sao; for lowland and deep areas, it must be agreed upon but not exceed 180,000 VND/sao, to avoid the situation of zoning and protection.

To operate, harvester owners must sign a commitment and pay 2 million VND to the People's Committee of Bac Thanh commune.

“In previous years, the situation of bad guys coming to the area to protect rice harvesters made people very upset. Any machine that wanted to harvest rice had to pay them and had to harvest according to their requirements. People who wanted to rent a machine had to wait for many days. The commune police stood up to ensure security and order, preventing protectionism and creating favorable conditions for people as well as machine owners from other localities to come and operate,” said Mr. Bang.

Why did the Commune Police Department require the machine owners or the callers to sign a commitment and collect 2 million VND/machine? Mr. Tran Danh Luong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Thanh Commune said: The purpose of requiring the machine renters and machine owners to sign a commitment is to ensure security and order in rice harvesting, prevent acts of threats and property damage by bad guys. When an incident occurs, the police force will come out to resolve it, avoiding fighting and fighting with each other.

“After receiving comments, the commune reviewed and found that it was incorrect to assign the commune police to collect money from the renters and harvester owners. The commune has notified and returned the money to those who signed the commitment,” said Mr. Luong.

People in Bac Thanh commune benefited a lot after the commune took measures to prevent the problem of protecting rice harvesters.

When he learned that a reporter had come to investigate, Mr. Le Xuan Binh - the head of Hamlet 6 said: In the Winter-Spring crop, due to protectionism, people had to pay 180-240 thousand/sao. But in the Summer-Autumn crop of 2016, the commune agreed on a price of 160-180 thousand/sao. The rice harvest time was fast, avoiding the influence of the weather, so people benefited a lot. Therefore, saying that the commune police "protect" the harvester is not correct. In my opinion, whatever is beneficial to the people should be done, we should not look at the phenomenon to equate the nature of the problem.

The pain of protecting harvesters

In fact, the situation of bad guys acting as brokers and protecting rice harvesters has been happening in many localities in Yen Thanh district for many years. This situation has been happening openly, challenging the authorities and causing difficulties for farmers during each rice harvest season.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Bang - Head of Bac Thanh Commune Police said: Since the 2016 Winter-Spring crop, the situation of protecting rice harvesters in the commune has become extremely complicated. Bad guys manipulate and control prices, and enclose fields, causing resentment among the people.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Bang - Head of Bac Thanh Commune Police said that bad guys are ready to spread steel bars in the fields to destroy machines if they are prevented.

“On August 31, the harvester called by Mr. Nguyen Van Huong in Bac Son hamlet was preparing to harvest for the people when two people came to threaten him, demanding that he pay them 20,000 VND/sao to operate. When the incident was learned, the Commune Police deployed forces and arrested one person and handed him over to Yen Thanh District Police for handling.”

In Hoa Thanh commune, the problem of protecting rice harvesters also occurred, causing people to worry. Entering the Summer-Autumn crop of 2016, Hoa Thanh General Service Cooperative signed a contract with the callers and the machine owners to put the harvesters into operation in the area. According to the contract, each harvester that wanted to operate had to pay the Cooperative 1.5 million VND as field management costs and 5 million VND as a deposit.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trieu - Director of the Cooperative said: The amount of 1.5 million VND will be put into the common fund and later used to upgrade and renovate the canal system. The remaining amount of 5 million VND is for the machine callers and machine owners to comply with the terms of the contract regarding price, ensuring the supply of machines with sufficient capacity, harvesting the entire specified area, harvesting time... If there is no violation, after the contract ends, the Cooperative will return this amount. If there is a violation, the deposit will not be returned.

It is known that the Hoa Thanh General Service Cooperative signed a contract with the callers, the machine owner has implemented since the 2016 Winter-Spring crop. After implementation, the people in the commune agreed because the contract created many advantages in harvesting rice as well as prevented the unreasonable price increase that has been happening for a long time. Not only the people benefited, but the callers also agreed with this method.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tan, Tan Quang hamlet (Hoa Thanh) called 2 machines from Thai Binh to harvest rice in the commune. To operate, Mr. Tan paid the cooperative 3 million VND in fees and a deposit of 10 million VND. "When we sign the contract and pay the money, the commune will ensure that the machines operate properly, preventing competition. Moreover, the hamlet chief will provide the area according to the map and notify the people in the hamlet to agree on harvesting rice," said Mr. Tan.

In Hoa Thanh commune, the cooperative will sign a contract and collect 1.5 million in fees and 5 million in deposits when operating in the area.

Returning to the issue in Bac Thanh commune, it must be affirmed that the Commune People's Committee's request for harvester owners to sign a commitment and pay 2 million VND to operate is wrong. Although the commune's purpose is to ensure security and order, prevent protectionism, and stabilize rice harvest prices, due to the improper way of doing things, it has caused bad public opinion.

In Hoa Thanh commune, assigning cooperatives to join and sign service contracts to serve people's production activities is the right direction and needs to continue to be studied to implement the regulations. However, the commune's refusal to allow harvesters that are not registered with the commune to harvest rice for people is not in accordance with the regulations.

Concerned about this issue, Mr. Phan Van Tuyen - Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee said that finding a solution to prevent the problem of protecting rice harvesters is very important and urgent. The incident that happened in Bac Thanh commune was wrong and affected the image of the local government. In the coming time, the district will continue to research to find the most optimal solution to ensure the smooth production activities of the people but at the same time eliminate the problem of brokers or protecting harvesters in the area.

PV Group