Determination for Ha Son to innovate

(Baonghean) -We returned to Ha Son, Quy Hop when sugarcane plants began to grow green on the undulating hills, to hear the story of the revolution that changed the lives of the people here, and to meet a commune chairman who still had many concerns and plans to carry out on his homeland.

The road to Ha Son (Quy Hop) is extremely arduous and difficult! The night before, there was a heavy rainstorm, so we were lucky to have a real and complete experience of the arduous road as a "warning". After a long journey of walking, leading, and pushing, our bodies covered in the soil of Phu Quy, we arrived at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune to meet the young commune chairman. Pouring a cup of tea, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune - Le Van Thanh smiled and said: "The road you just passed is the easiest road to get to Ha Son, the road has been improved a lot compared to previous years".



The difficult road to Ha Son

The story naturally begins with memories of Ha Son more than 20 years ago, poor and desolate. A mountainous commune with more than 90% Tho ethnic people, low education level, backward production and farming techniques.

At that time, among his peers, student Le Van Thanh (born in 1969) was the only one in the village who graduated from high school. After graduating, Le Van Thanh stayed home to participate in the Youth Union activities, and unexpectedly was elected as the deputy secretary of the commune Youth Union. Since then, he has held many positions, from cultural work, chief of the committee office, vice chairman of the commune People's Council, and from 2010 to present, he has been the Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune. Therefore, despite his young age, he has witnessed and contributed his efforts and enthusiasm to the changes in Ha Son.

The years when Le Van Thanh started working for the commune were the time when Ha Son was still in an extremely difficult time. The commune People's Committee headquarters was located among the people, "migrating" from one village to another. Every year, it was located in a village, and any place was the commune center. It was not until 1995 that the commune was able to buy a 3-room house from a local resident, and established it there for 5 years. It was not until 2000 that Ha Son officially had a commune People's Committee headquarters. Each time the commune cadres went to the district for a meeting, it took 3 days. One day to go, one day to meet, one day to return. At first, they walked, then they rode bicycles, the rocky and steep roads were dusty when it was sunny, and muddy and slippery when it rained, with dirt sticking to the wheels, carrying the bicycle on their shoulders while walking... However, the young commune cadre was never discouraged. Seeing that his village was still facing so many difficulties, he was even more determined to do something to change and escape poverty.

In 1998, when Nghe An Tate & Lyle Sugar Factory was built, it opened a new direction for Ha Son, which was growing raw sugarcane to supply the factory. However, to mobilize people to grow sugarcane is a long story that is not easy or simple, but as Mr. Le Van Thanh said, it is a revolution. The Tho ethnic people in Ha Son mainly live by slash-and-burn farming, slash-and-burn rice cultivation, clearing, clearing, and pruning, a long-standing tradition. As a child of the Tho ethnic group, growing up with upland rice, sometimes hungry, sometimes full, he understands the concerns and worries of the local people.

“It is extremely difficult to change a long-standing production custom that is ingrained in the blood of the local people. For the people of Ha Son at that time, sugarcane was something very strange. They did not believe that sugarcane could grow well on the fields, did not believe that the sugar factory would buy sugarcane, and even gave seeds to plant but the people did not accept them,” said Mr. Le Van Thanh. Rice can be eaten immediately, but sugarcane cannot replace rice. The district also organized propaganda but it was not effective. While the commune cadre team was thin, the commune People's Committee only had 4 people including 1 chairman, 1 vice chairman, 1 commune police chief and office chief, divided into propaganda. To go down to mobilize each hamlet, each person, to speak in the simplest, easiest to understand way. Mr. Le Van Thanh had to use all his "literature", knowledge, and the heart of a son of the Tho ethnic group, to convince the people. “We have to explain to the villagers that sugarcane is like reeds and cogon grass. If reeds can survive, sugarcane can survive too. If you grow sugarcane and sell it for money, you can buy a lot of rice to eat, and you won’t have to worry about going hungry.”

Then the commune cadres took the lead, dividing the land among themselves to plant 3-6 sao of sugarcane. He was the first person in the commune to bring sugarcane back to plant on his family's 6 sao of land for the villagers to follow. The sugarcane grew well and grew strong on the red soil hills. But in the first year of the sugar factory's trial run, it did not need much raw material. So the sugarcane was planted, the people were fed up with eating it and did not know what to do, some went to press molasses, the rest had to cut and burn it, otherwise the sugarcane would rot at the base. Many people were discouraged. Many even destroyed the sugarcane hill. This was another difficulty for the propaganda of the commune cadres. His family also had to cut and burn 6 hectares of sugarcane, but he kept the sugarcane stumps and encouraged the villagers to follow his example and not destroy the whole hill. The following year, the sugar factory started operating effectively, at this time, the villagers again had the need to buy sugarcane seedlings to plant. Apart from the families who still kept the sugarcane from the previous year, the majority had destroyed it. The commune continued to establish a steering committee, bought seeds, borrowed seeds, and then intervened with the bank to lend people capital for production. This time it was successful, and Ha Son changed from then on. The rice fields that depended on the rain of the sky were replaced by vast green sugarcane hills.

Up to now, in addition to sugarcane, Ha Son also grows acacia, cassava, and develops a cattle breeding model, but mainly sugarcane. This place has become one of the largest sugarcane growing areas in Quy Hop district with 1,100 ha/7,500 ha of sugarcane in the whole district, (second only to Van Loi commune).

To meet the job requirements, it is necessary to have more knowledge, Le Van Thanh continues to work and study for an economics degree at Vinh University, as well as to study to improve his political theory level. Up to this point, being elected as Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Son commune, he has been a "qualified" official. Especially, when the National Target Program on New Rural Construction was deployed, as the "leading figure", Chairman Le Van Thanh has been trying his best to direct the implementation of the criteria, in which he pays special attention to the construction of new rural traffic.



Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Son Commune, Quy Hop - Le Van Thanh still has many concerns about Ha Son.

Traffic, the eternal story of the people of Ha Son, and also the biggest concern of Chairman Le Van Thanh. There are 3 main roads leading into the commune: the road from Quy Hop town through Chau Dinh, Van Loi down; the road from Tan Xuan, Tan Ky up, and from National Highway 48 to Ha Son are all very difficult to travel. The difficulty in traffic has greatly affected the local economy, services, and trade. Here, construction materials, agricultural materials, and all kinds of goods are very expensive. Documents, books, and newspapers are also delayed for a week, or even a month if it rains. In particular, sugarcane is the main source of income for the people, but when it rains heavily, "no one can go out, no one can come in". It is not uncommon for trucks carrying sugarcane to overturn and fall on slippery roads. Each time like that, people have to spend millions of dong to hire loading and unloading. Meanwhile, cut sugarcane, left for one day, can lose tons, not to mention the sugarcane turning sour, losing sugar content, and reducing quality. If this problem is solved, it will create extremely favorable conditions for the development of Ha Son in all aspects.

To carry out the construction of rural traffic, starting from mobilizing people to donate land for road construction and site clearance, Chairman Le Van Thanh directed the establishment of the New Rural Management Board, and presented the collective planning for people to comment. At the same time, assigned hamlets to establish new rural development teams to closely monitor the implementation process. It is worth mentioning that the difficulties compared to other places are not difficult in Ha Son. Land consolidation, land planning, and site clearance are actively responded to and supported by the people, because the demand is so great. More than anyone, the people here understand the value of a road. On the other hand, the commune also stands up to resolve all questions of the people, so that the cadres and people can unite and be of one mind.

However, the implementation of concreting traffic, irrigation canal systems... in Ha Son is extremely costly. The policy is that the State pays for cement, the people pay for sand, gravel and labor. If in the lowlands, a truck of sand and gravel costs only 200-300 thousand VND, then to transport it to Ha Son, it costs up to 1.2 million VND, even 1.5 million VND in some areas. People's lives have improved, but compared to other places, this is still a difficult commune, with the number of poor households accounting for 35%. Therefore, despite efforts, "it is very difficult to complete the criteria for rural traffic by 2015, because all Ha Son roads are difficult and require a lot of materials". Currently, Ha Son has only completed 3 criteria on the political system, planning and electricity. Thanks to his contributions and dedication to his commune, Le Van Thanh has been awarded many certificates of merit for emulation fighters, studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh. But according to him, what he can do is still limited, and he must try harder.

Returning to the muddy road to get out of Ha Son, we still remember the determined words of the young commune chairman Le Van Thanh: "No matter how difficult it is, we must do it, even more difficult it must be solved, we must change Ha Son's traffic" and promised that one day, if we return to Ha Son, we will be able to travel on asphalt and concrete roads. We believe that with such a troubled heart, along with the support of the people, the dream of "traffic" will soon come true, thereby paving the way for further economic, cultural, social development... of Ha Son.

Ho Lai