Former Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee through the feelings of a fellow countryman

Mr. Truong Kien was born in Quynh Lap commune, Quynh Luu district, now Hoang Mai town, Nghe An province. His life of activities and work was vibrant and rich. When he was only 16 years old, he joined the revolution; at the age of 20, he worked for Nghe An Provincial Party Committee. At the age of over 20, he held the position of Deputy Secretary, Acting Secretary of Quynh Luu District Party Committee.

The son of the land with his back to the sea has an average build, but has a resolute face, especially very bright eyes. People are often attracted by those confident eyes. In more than 40 years of dedication, he participated in many different positions: Secretary of Quynh Luu District Party Committee; Chairman of Nghe Tinh Provincial People's Committee, Secretary of Nghe Tinh Provincial Party Committee, leader of the provincial Agriculture sector; Member of the 6th National Assembly; Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee; Deputy Minister of Food (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development)... Besides, Mr. Truong Van Kien also participated in activities in many different sectors and fields: Journalism, propaganda; organization and office work...

Former Secretary of Nghe Tinh Provincial Party Committee on a field trip. Photo TL

The most active and successful years of Mr. Truong Kien were when he was promoted by the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee to become Secretary of the Quynh Luu District Party Committee for the second time and when he was reassigned by the Central Committee to preside over Nghe An and Nghe Tinh provinces after the merger. His contributions to the emulation movements and economic development of his home province have left many important marks until today. With his far-sighted and decisive vision, he "pressed the right button" to create changes in the socio-economic development of a land known to be rich in revolutionary enthusiasm but harsh and poor.

In the early 60s of the 20th century, when Nghe An Provincial Party Committee decided to promote him to be the Secretary of Quynh Luu District Party Committee, he expressed his determination to the Party Committee and people of the district: "If you want to be prosperous, you must cultivate intensively. If you want to cultivate intensively effectively, the first and most important factor must be water resources." So Quynh Luu marched into the front line of irrigation with the slogan: "Tilt the fields to pour water into the river and hang water on the treetops."

A corner of Hoang Mai town today. Documentary photo

At the end of 1963, more than 16,000 workers of Quynh Luu district dug the Binh Son drainage canal with a length of more than 8 km to solve flooding for 5 communes in the central agricultural area of ​​the district with an area of ​​more than 2,000 hectares, replacing the silted Ngan River. Binh Son (Quang Ngai) was a sister district of Quynh Luu during the war years, when the country was still divided. Then, in the 3 years 1964-1966, Quynh Luu again advanced to the semi-mountainous area to build lakes and dams. An Ngai Lake in Quynh Tan commune with a reserve of over 3 million m³Water; Lake 3/2 (Khe Go) in Quynh Tam commune has a reserve of over 5 million m³water, irrigating the three communes of Quynh Tam, Quynh Chau and Tan Son and a number of irrigation works in the communes of Quynh Thang, Quynh Vinh, Ngoc Son... Although the scale of these irrigation works is modest, they have great significance in opening the movement of irrigation, promoting agricultural production in Quynh Luu. That is considered a factor creating a leap in economic growth of Quynh Luu district in the agricultural sector.

With the results and experience in Quynh Luu, when he was transferred back to Nghe An province, he assumed the position of Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and Head of the Department of Agriculture. When he was the Head of the Department, Nghe An agriculture was bustling with intensive farming movement. He led a delegation of provincial, district and grassroots agricultural officials to visit Thai Binh to learn about the experience of growing water fern and intensive farming. He and the leaders of the provincial Department of Agriculture built many good production models, typically the Hong Long Cooperative in Quynh Hong commune (Quynh Luu district) and the Ba To Cooperative in Hung Tay commune (Hung Nguyen district). These two cooperatives and their two directors, Hoang Quoc Dong and Cao Luc, were awarded the title of Labor Hero by the State. At that time, there was a saying: "Mr. Kien's company, Quynh Luu district" to praise the provincial Department of Agriculture and the production movement in Quynh Luu district.

Ke Go Lake - an irrigation project that left the mark of former Nghe Tinh Provincial Party Secretary Truong Kien. Photo courtesy

In 1976, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces merged into Nghe Tinh province. Mr. Truong Kien was elected Chairman of Nghe Tinh Provincial People's Committee; Alternate member of the Central Committee of the 4th term; Delegate of the 6th term. When assigned to take on one of the two key positions of the province, he and the provincial leaders determined to promote irrigation work. Starting with digging the Vach Bac drainage canal, draining water for the rice granary of the 2 northern districts of Yen Thanh and Dien Chau. Then the project of damming the Nghen River and especially the Ke Go large irrigation project.

The project has a capacity of 345 million m³water, irrigation for 21,000 hectares of 63 communes in 2 districts of Cam Xuyen, Thach Ha and Ha Tinh city. The project is expected to be implemented in 10 years. The construction process has exceeded the plan and completed in only 3 years. Ke Go today is not only an economic civil project but also a quite attractive tourist destination of Ha Tinh province.

Comrade Truong Kien at the launching ceremony of the Ke Go reservoir irrigation project. Photo courtesy

But the heart of the native son of Quynh Lap must have been very heavy and it could be considered the biggest regret and worry of his life. The irrigation canal system in the North of Do Luong district was built in the early 20th century, after nearly 50 years the project had been eroded and sedimented, obstructing the flow. The province decided to dredge and repair this project. During the construction, a major disaster occurred. Due to improper dumping of dredged soil, the canal bank slid, Hiep Hoa sluice collapsed while hundreds of workers were at peak work... Nearly 98 people died. The main responsibility belonged to the technical staff. But as the head of the project, Mr. Truong Kien was also involved and that sad event haunted him until he closed his eyes.

When Mr. Truong Kien worked at the Ministry of Food, I once met him when I visited Quynh Luu. The two brothers had a happy conversation, at the end of the conversation, he laughed and said: "I pretend, but I'm not pretending" a funny but very witty saying, and also a tricky couplet because it has many meanings. I don't know if anyone has been able to respond to it since then.

A corner of Quynh beach. Photo: Nhat Thanh

Although I did not work under his direct leadership, when I returned to work at the Quynh Luu District Party Committee, I met and interacted with him quite a lot. Those were the times when I went to meetings in the province and when he went to work with Quynh Luu, I often took him directly to the bases as requested. His working style was quick, his opinions were new and authentic, opening up good ideas for his subordinates. In particular, he had a gift for speaking. His speeches were eloquent, profound, analytical, and comparative, so they were very convincing. I heard that when he was Secretary of the Quynh Luu District Party Committee, he spoke at a rally to launch the digging of the Binh Son canal, tens of thousands of people at the ceremony listened in silence. When he retired, every time I returned to Quynh Luu, I often went to the district guest house to visit him and he came to my house a few times. When he learned that the Quynh Luu literary and artistic community organized a poetry and music program, he was also willing to attend and talk about poetry. As a person in such a position, I find him simple and approachable. Talking to him, listeners gain a lot of useful information.

Mr. Truong Kien has passed away forever; but the image of a dynamic, creative leader with a close and approachable style remains forever in the hearts of the people of Nghe An.

Tran Nguong