Visiting the 'home base' of a successful business party member on the Hua Na Hydropower Reservoir

On the vast Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir, we visited the livestock area of ​​Mr. Luong Van Thang in Muong Hinh village, Dong Van commune, Que Phong district. He currently has 12 fish cages, mainly raising climbing fish and grass carp.

Mr. Thang confided that to raise fish on the hydroelectric reservoir, one must stay up late and wake up early. Grass carp usually eat vegetables, leaves, tubers, and fruits, so they have to be picked every other day. Climbing fish need protein food, which is small fish. Therefore, each household raising climbing fish needs a set of nets to catch small fish to feed the caged fish.

“Every day, from 2am, when it is still dark, I and other households start rowing rafts to areas where we put down nets, plug in solar lights to attract fish and pull them up to harvest. On a good day, we can catch 50-70kg of fish, sometimes even a hundred kilograms of baby fish, enough for several cages of climbing fish to eat for many days. However, the amount of baby fish is getting less and less, because every day there are dozens of households raising fish to catch fish...” - Mr. Luong Van Thang said.

After collecting the nets and pulling the nets, Mr. Thang rowed the raft back to the cages to feed the fish. In addition to fishing every day, Mr. Luong Van Thang and his wife also had to go to the forest and to their family's fields on the mountain on the edge of the lake to pick cassava leaves, elephant grass, and forest leaves to serve the 7 cages of grass carp.

His wife takes on the “duty” of cooking cassava and vegetables for the pigs and cows, plus a few dozen chickens being raised on the farm on the shore, near the fish cage area. Mr. Thang is always on duty at the fish raft, while his wife stays in the hut to watch the fields and cook. When there is work, he goes to the commune center for meetings and activities. It takes about 30 minutes to go from the fish cage farming area to the shore for meetings and activities of the village Party Committee by motorboat.

Mr. Luong Van Thang was admitted to the Party at the age of 42, in 2003. Since then, he has regularly participated in Party cell activities and village and hamlet activities.

Speaking more about the exemplary and meticulous character of Party member Luong Van Thang, Mr. Luong Van Thuong - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Dong Van Commune said that Mr. Thang is attached to livestock farming and cultivation and has been in charge of the role of deputy village chief, village head, and police officer for many years. Now he is over 60 years old, although he does not participate in the village executive committee, he is always a pioneer and enthusiastically supports community activities, especially in the economic development movement.

Currently, Mr. Luong Van Thang's property, in addition to 12 fish cages, also has a herd of 6 cows, a herd of more than 10 black pigs, a forest of more than 4,000 native cinnamon trees and 3 hectares of acacia and cycad. Each year, Mr. Thang's family harvests 3-4 batches of fish from cages, bringing in an income of about 100 million VND. In addition, the income from selling black pigs, cycads, and acacia each year is also "nearly" 100 million VND depending on the market price.

Talking about his farming and livestock raising, Party member Luong Van Thang said that first of all, he must worry and make efforts to create a source of income for himself to "take care of his old age", then he must create for his children the habit and mindset that if he works, he will have food. And although everyone has his own life, must take care of himself and his family, he cannot separate himself from the community, but needs to stick together and support the building of a stronger village and community.

"These are also the Party Cell's instructions that every Party member understands, implements and shows correct effectiveness, bringing many practical benefits" - Mr. Luong Van Thang confided.