Why not merge Muong Xen town even though it does not meet the standards?

Muong Xen Town, Ky Son. Photo: Nguyen Book

Nghe An province has 480 commune-level administrative units, of which 17 (including 14 communes and 3 towns in 10 districts) meet less than 50% of both standards on natural area and population size as prescribed and are required to be arranged and merged in the period 2019-2021. Among them, Muong Xen town (Ky Son) has both population and natural area standards below the prescribed standards. Accordingly, the natural area of ​​this border town is 1.9 km²/14 km²only reached 13.72%; population 2,800/8,000 people, equivalent to 35% of the standard.

According to the regulations, Muong Xen town is subject to merger and expansion to ensure standards on area and population size. However, at the regular meeting in June of the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee with the participation of representatives of the Central Organizing Committee, the People's Committee of Nghe An province proposed not to arrange and merge Muong Xen town.

Muong Xen Town, Ky Son (Nghe An) Illustration by Google Maps

Reasons identified: This is a border town that plays an important role in the defense and security of the locality and province. Ky Son district also has special characteristics in terms of terrain and ethnicity and is the most difficult area of ​​Nghe An province.

If the plan proposed by the Provincial People's Committee is approved by the Central Organizing Committee, Nghe An will merge 36 commune-level administrative units (including 16 mandatory units, 2 units encouraged to merge, and 18 adjacent communes). And according to calculations, after the merger, from 480 commune-level units, Nghe An will be reduced to 460 units.

Nghe An currently has 21 district-level administrative units, including 17 districts, 1 city and 3 towns, and no district-level administrative unit meets less than 50% of both criteria, so it is not necessary to implement the arrangement and merger plan in phase 1 from 2019-2021.