Nghi Loc: The Party's will and the people's hearts connect to form the path to happiness.

Developing rural transportation to meet the travel needs of the people, creating more opportunities for people to trade, transport goods, and find markets for agricultural and forestry products... thereby contributing to promoting the local socio-economic development. With that goal in mind, in recent years, localities in Nghi Loc district have adopted policies to build many rural roads connecting hamlets and communes, and have gained high consensus among the people.
The muddy dirt roads of the past are gradually being replaced by wide asphalt and concrete roads… the people are very excited not only because of the improved transportation but also because it reflects the Party's will aligning with the people's aspirations.

COMPETE TO DONATE LAND FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Nghi Thiet commune, Nghi Loc district, is a poor coastal commune with limited land and a large population, making land here considered "golden." However, when the Party committee and local government launched a campaign to mobilize the people's efforts to build rural roads, many households readily donated land, demolished fences and other structures to build smooth concrete roads, widening them to 4-6 meters, replacing the previous dirt and narrow concrete roads.

Following the motto "The people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect, the people supervise, and the people benefit," from the beginning of the year until now, with the decisive direction of the Party committee and the government, organizations within the political system have mobilized 25 households in Chua hamlet to voluntarily donate 365 m² of land.²Land, valued at over 2 billion VND, had more than 500 square meters demolished.²The fence and other auxiliary structures, valued at 457 million VND, were built with contributions and support from the people totaling 448 million VND, along with hundreds of man-days of labor, to expand the road from Chua Hamlet to Dinh Hamlet.

To date, the project has been completed and put into use with a total value of 5.819 billion VND. Thanks to the Party's will aligning with the people's aspirations, despite the fact that "every inch of land is worth its weight in gold," the people here are all willing to sacrifice their personal interests for the common good, because they believe that where there are roads, there is development. Mr. Nguyen Trong Vinh shared: "To expand the road for the new rural development project, our family voluntarily donated 90 meters of land."²Since this is our land, and I'm a party member, I have to set an example and lead the way so that the people will trust me.

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Together with the Village Front Committee, I went to each house to persuade the villagers. Currently, there are 19 households, and after the persuasion, some households moved back 2 meters, resulting in a total of 380 square meters of land donated.²The land is being used to widen roads, making them greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Vinh - Chua Hamlet, Nghi Thiet Commune

Leaving Nghi Thiet, we arrived at Nghi Xa, a model commune in mobilizing community resources for rural road construction. As a purely agricultural commune, the people mainly engage in farming, starting from a low base; and budget revenue still faces many difficulties. Rice and potatoes remain the main source of income for the people here, yet many households have readily contributed tens of millions of dong, donated land, demolished embankments and fences, and contributed labor to build many wide, bright, green, clean, and beautiful roads.

Speaking with us, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam said: "As a Party member of the Party branch in Hamlet 1-10, and aware of the Party and State's policies, Hamlet 1-10 organized a meeting to implement the land donation for road construction. Our family fully agreed with and supported the proposed policy. We donated 35 meters in length and 0.4 meters in width (including dismantling 35 meters of our solidly built fence). To date, the road has been completed, clean and beautiful, meeting the transportation needs of the people. Not only my family, but also the people of Hamlet 1-10 and the entire commune are very happy to have a well-maintained road."

Mr. Vo Xuan Hong, a resident of Hamlet 1-10, further shared: "My family and I completely agree with the plan to open the Nghi Thinh intersection road, passing through Hamlet 1-10 to the Post Office, connecting to Duc Thiet road. My family donated 41 meters in length and 0.6 meters in width, including dismantling and demolishing 41 meters of fence. Today, the road has been completed and put into use, and I, like everyone else here, am very happy to have a spacious, clean, and beautiful road."

Further west in Nghi Loc district, we spoke with Comrade Tran Van Binh, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Council of Nghi Lam commune, who shared his experience in mobilizing the people's strength. Mr. Binh stated: One of the most valuable lessons learned from the land donation movement for road construction in Nghi Lam commune is the importance of effectively "mobilizing the people's strength," with the motto of putting the people first. He emphasized that officials should readily ask the people for guidance on matters they are unfamiliar with, and the commune has established a steering committee for rural road construction. Each hamlet has elected a mobilization committee, and the locality has established a community investment monitoring committee, whose members are Party members and influential figures in the hamlets and villages. The mobilization approach is "start with easier families, then move on to more difficult ones." The initial mobilization effort involves going to each household collectively, and if households are not yet in agreement or if some family members are unsupportive, then individual mobilization efforts are focused on each member of the household. By effectively applying the principle of "using the people's strength to care for the people," Nghi Lam commune has successfully implemented the grassroots democracy regulations, maximizing the people's rights in discussions and deliberations, ensuring transparency and openness in all aspects, from contributions and contribution levels to the management of public funds, construction, inspection, supervision, and acceptance of projects. Once organizations within the political system get involved, the people's mindset is enlightened, and their strength is unleashed, the movement to donate land for rural road construction achieves high results.

Currently, Nghi Lam commune has maximized its community resources, investing in a modern and comprehensive infrastructure with a total of over 192 billion VND, of which the people have donated over 2,300 square meters of land.² Land, boundary walls, and other constructions, valued at over 123 billion VND, contributed over 11,000 man-days to rural road construction, renovation of cultural centers and public recreational facilities. To date, the entire commune has 11.1 km of inter-commune roads paved with asphalt or concrete to standard, and nearly 45 km of inter-hamlet and intra-hamlet roads paved with concrete, with road surfaces 3-4m wide, ensuring convenient traffic flow. Inter-commune and inter-hamlet roads are equipped with traffic signs and speed bumps at intersections with provincial and commune roads. Over 11 km of roads through residential areas are equipped with streetlights and flagpoles; the irrigation system, internal field transportation, and electricity system have been invested in and upgraded to meet standards to meet the production, business, and living needs of the people; school facilities, health stations, and all 12 cultural centers and cultural-sports facilities meet the prescribed standards.

Thanks to its determination, decisiveness, and innovative approaches in mass mobilization work, Nghi Lam commune has been recognized by the province as a commune meeting the advanced new rural standards in 2024.

The successful models of mobilizing people to donate land for road construction, raising funds, and contributing labor for rural road building in Nghi Lam, Nghi Thiet, Nghi Xa communes and many other localities in Nghi Loc district demonstrate that the movement is very effective, practical, and in line with "the Party's will and the people's aspirations," creating a ripple effect in the community. These results also show that "the people's strength is like the strength of water"; wherever the people are in agreement, all the Party's policies and resolutions, and the State's laws and regulations are effectively implemented and put into practice.

THERE ARE EXISTING PATHS THAT FOLLOW THE PARTY'S WILL AND THE PEOPLE'S WILL.

President Ho Chi Minh said: "A task that is a hundred times easier will fail without the people's support, but a task that is a thousand times more difficult will succeed with the people's participation." Over the years, the implementation of the targets set forth in the District Party Congress Resolution has always been a priority for the Party Committee, the government, and organizations within the political system, especially the target of building Nghi Loc district into an advanced new rural area by 2025. To achieve this challenging target, one of the criteria that the people of Nghi Loc district are particularly concerned about is transportation. The construction and upgrading of rural transportation infrastructure to serve the development of advanced new rural areas is one of the top priorities in this process. The transportation system is not simply a network of roads connecting villages and areas, but also the backbone of economic development and the lives of local people. To realize this goal, the cooperation and support of the local community are needed, with three key areas requiring attention: mobilizing people to donate land, soliciting and raising funds, and enlisting the contribution of labor.

The positive changes in the awareness and actions of each citizen are thanks to the consensus and high level of agreement from the Party Committee and the government at all levels in Nghi Loc district, from policy to implementation, always being open and transparent. This has helped people see the benefits for themselves, thus encouraging them to wholeheartedly support and voluntarily contribute their labor and resources. While more than 10 years ago, many people were fed up with the "dusty in the sun, muddy in the rain" roads, today many inter-village, inter-hamlet, and inter-commune roads in Nghi Loc district have been upgraded and expanded, serving transportation needs and creating favorable conditions for communication and trade. Over the past three years, the entire district has paved over 225.416 km of rural roads of all types, including 154.117 km of rural roads and 71.299 km of field roads. Through the campaign of donating land for road construction, the district has mobilized people to participate in building rural infrastructure, contributing 1.865 billion VND, 90.775 man-days of labor, and donating 24.705 m² of land.²land.

With the right policies on building new rural areas, along with the unity and joint efforts of the people, solid rural transportation routes have been and are being extended by localities, contributing to promoting socio-economic development in a sustainable direction.

It can be affirmed that the movement of donating land and mobilizing people's efforts to build roads in Nghi Loc district has yielded practical results. The straight, spacious, bright, green, clean, and beautiful roads have facilitated travel and trade for the people, contributing to the socio-economic development of Nghi Loc district and increasing people's income.

Binh Dinh Province