After storm number 2, mountainous commune 'asks' to stay in commune 135

(Baonghean.vn) -“Please don’t let us out of commune 135” – that was the plea of ​​many ethnic minority households in Lien Hop commune (Quy Hop) right after storm No. 2 passed.

The family of Ms. Vi Thi Chau, in Duoc hamlet, Lien Hop commune. Photo: Phan Giang

Lien Hop commune has 474 households with 2,136 people. Most of the people here are Thai ethnic group. People's lives depend on agricultural production. This is also the most difficult area of ​​​​Quy Hop mountainous district.

Although it is less than 30 km from Quy Hop town, it took us many hours to get to Lien Hop commune from National Highway 48D through Chau Loc commune. When we were about 10 km from the commune center, we switched to a tractor, then had to walk through the forest and wade through streams for another hour to reach the center of Lien Hop commune. The reason for this difficult travel was that after storm No. 2, many villages were isolated.

Ms. Vi Thi Chau in Duoc village is over 70 years old this year. Her family of 5 members only depends on 2 sao of rice. Storm No. 2 has almost wiped out the rice area and buried and destroyed many other properties of the family. The risk of hunger is inevitable.

As for Mr. Vi Van Thai, another resident of Quan village, he said that every time it rains heavily or the wind is strong, he has to carry his children across the river to escape the flood.

Mr. Vi Van Thai takes his grandchildren across the river to avoid the flood. Photo: Phan Giang

Vi Trung Hop, from Khot hamlet, shared: “I feel very sad and regretful, even though I passed the entrance exam to the provincial boarding school, my application was returned. The reason is that I am not a priority under the 135 program. I hope that the authorities will consider allowing me to meet the conditions to attend the provincial boarding school, have better learning conditions, and later return to contribute to building my homeland and country.”

Vi Trung Hop’s family is a near-poor household in the commune, with their main income coming from two rice crops a year. The family has four members, two of whom are in school. Hop’s family is currently facing the risk of hunger, and he may have to drop out of school.

Local militia helps people in Quan hamlet overcome the consequences of storm No. 2. Photo: Phan Giang

Lien Hop commune is entitled to the 135 program of extremely disadvantaged communes in region 3 in the period 2010-2015. And according to Decision 50/2016/QD-TTg dated November 3, 2016 of the Prime Minister on criteria for determining extremely disadvantaged villages and communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period 2016-2020, one of the criteria for recognizing extremely disadvantaged villages and communes is: The total rate of poor and near-poor households is 65% or more (of which the rate of poor households is 35% or more). Based on this criterion, in early 2017, Lien Hop commune was removed from commune 135 because the total number of poor and near-poor households in the whole commune was lower than 65% as stipulated above.

However, the statistics of Lien Hop commune were conducted in early 2016, when the commune had not been much affected by the weather and the poverty rate was still below 65%. By the end of 2016, the storm caused people's lives to fall into misery. Rice and crop areas were almost completely lost. According to statistics, more than 10/152 hectares of rice and crop in the commune were completely lost due to natural disasters. Many families' houses and properties were swept away by floods and damaged. Hundreds of households became poor again. According to the investigation results of the People's Committee of Lien Hop commune in early 2017, the total number of poor and near-poor households in the commune had reached 78.01%.

Most recently, after storm No. 2, Lien Hop commune suffered estimated damage of more than 10 billion VND. Of which, 3.7 hectares of rice seedlings were buried by mud; 2.4 hectares of rice, 11.5 hectares of vegetables, 13.6 hectares of annual crops (cassava, sugarcane) were swept away by floods; 36 hectares of acacia and eucalyptus trees were broken, 13.5 hectares of people's fields and gardens were flooded, 7km of canals were completely damaged...

Meanwhile, Lien Hop is currently the only commune in Quy Hop that does not have a cultural and sports center as prescribed. All roads from the commune center to the villages are dirt roads, muddy in the rain and dusty in the sun. The whole commune does not have any schools that meet national standards. The working offices of the Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, Fatherland Front, and mass organizations in the commune are temporary and degraded. The villages still do not have community centers, mobile phone signals, or Internet. In particular, Quan village still does not have national grid electricity.

To reach villages isolated by storm No. 2, the commune militia had to level the road to help vehicles pass. Photo: Phan Giang

Mr. Lo Van Dong - Chairman of Lien Hop Commune People's Committee said: "In 2016, due to natural disasters, there was a lot of damage, difficulties piled on difficulties. In particular, due to storm No. 2, we had 2 hamlets isolated. Regarding infrastructure, the office of the Commune People's Committee was seriously degraded. Currently, one office has 4-5 organizations working together, the roads have not been paved yet...".

The Chairman of Lien Hop Commune also said that leaving Commune 135 is the desire of the leaders and people of Lien Hop Commune. However, in the current situation, not being in the 135 area makes socio-economic development, infrastructure construction, and taking care of people's lives very difficult.

Currently, the leaders of Lien Hop commune have also reported the actual situation of the area to the functional units of Quy Hop district. "We request that all levels and sectors consider allowing Lien Hop commune to enjoy Program 135" - Mr. Lo Van Dong said./.

Phan Giang