The nearly 200 billion VND road serving more than 100 households was invested in unfinished and then left there.

Investing nearly 200 billion VND in roads to serve more than 100 households

One day in March, after a heavy rain, as usual, Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong) had to issue a notice mobilizing people in Ca Moong village to stop going to the fields to focus on repairing the only road leading to the village. Ca Moong village currently has 145 Khmu households, each household must have at least one person to do the task of clearing the road after each rain.

After the rain, water and rocks poured down from the mountains, piling up in blocks across the road. In many places, the water eroded the roads, creating deep holes. Without the help of machinery, people could only fix them with hoes and shovels. “The road from Coi village to Ca Moong village is 18km long. This is the only road leading to Kho Mu village. However, after every rain, it gets damaged. I can’t remember how many times a year I have to mobilize people from the whole village to fix the roads. I just know that every time it rains, it gets damaged, and every time it gets damaged, it has to be fixed, otherwise it will be isolated,” said Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc - Chairman of the People’s Committee of Luong Minh commune.

Ca Moong villagers repair the road after the rain. Photo: TH

According to Mr. Phuc, each repair, if the damage is minor, it takes a day, but if it rains heavily and causes landslides in many sections, it can take up to 3 days of work. “Although it is hard work, the repair doesn’t last long, and then everything goes back to the way it was. Sometimes, after we finish today, it rains tomorrow and the damage is done again,” Mr. Phuc added.

Ca Moong village used to belong to Kim Da commune. However, after the construction of Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, this commune was completely wiped out. The old Ca Moong village gradually sank under the hydropower reservoir, and the road leading to the village was also flooded. Not wanting to go down to Thanh Chuong district to resettle, the people of Ca Moong moved to higher ground, and were then incorporated into Luong Minh commune. However, this new location was completely isolated from the outside world. There were no roads, no electricity, and no phone signal.

To make it easier for Ca Moong residents to travel, in 2011, Tuong Duong district started building a road from Coi village to Ca Moong. The road is more than 18km long, with a total cost of about 195 billion VND, using the state budget. This project was invested by the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district, expected to be completed within 30 months. At that time, Ca Moong village only had 105 households. "When we saw the workers coming to build the road, we were very excited. But we have been waiting for so many years and the road is still nowhere to be seen. Knowing that they spent such a large amount of money to build an unfinished road like this, it would be better to buy boats for people to travel," said a resident of Ca Moong village.

The road has been invested 72 billion VND. Photo: TH

Wasteful construction

According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Minh Commune, the road leading to Ca Moong Village will be paved with asphalt according to the design. After the construction started, many workers also brought in machinery to deploy and clear the land. "However, after a short time, we saw them withdraw. There has been no movement for more than 10 years," said Mr. Phuc.

Mr. La Van Thai - Head of the Economic Infrastructure Department of Tuong Duong district said that this project is designed according to the standards of a grade 6 mountainous road with a total length of more than 18km. The project has only arranged and disbursed more than 72 billion VND. Initially, the project was expected to be completed within 30 months, but due to the lack of capital arrangement, the project had to stop construction. Up to now, the project has only completed the roadbed and some works on the route, the remaining items such as road surface, culverts, traffic safety systems, etc. have not been constructed. Due to the lack of capital arrangement, in 2021, the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district sent a document requesting the People's Committee of Nghe An province and the Department of Planning and Investment of Nghe An to consider stopping the project.

For many years, although the people have spent a lot of effort to repair the unfinished road, it is still very difficult to overcome the steep and rocky road leading to Ca Moong village. Although it is only 18km long, it takes nearly 2 hours by motorbike. However, that is on nice days. After each rain, it is impossible to get to Ca Moong village by road. Therefore, most people and officials choose to travel by water, even though it takes many stages.

The road to Ca Moong village on a nice day, but it still takes nearly 2 hours by motorbike. Photo: TH

Accordingly, every time Luong Minh commune officials go to Ca Moong village for work, they have to ride motorbikes nearly 10km to Thuong Luu wharf located right on Ban Ve hydroelectric dam. Then, they rent a motorboat for nearly 1 hour. Once on shore, they have to continue hiring a motorbike taxi for 100,000 VND to reach the village. Ca Moong village has up to 80% poor households. Although the land was given to the hydroelectric plant and the high-voltage power line runs right on the village, electricity has only been available here for over a year. Difficult transportation makes poverty always cling to the lives of the people here.

“It is a waste to invest more than 70 billion VND and then leave it there without using it. In almost every meeting, people have opinions about this road. The commune has repeatedly requested the district and province to allocate funds to continue construction, but for many years there has been no movement. We also hope that if there is no funding to build the road, the dirt roadbed will be renovated so that people can ride motorbikes, but so far we have not been able to arrange funding,” said Mr. Vi Dinh Phuc.

Because the road is often eroded and difficult to travel, Ca Moong residents still mainly use waterways. Photo: TH

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai - Secretary of Tuong Duong District Party Committee said that the project had to stop due to the huge cost and the need to cut public investment according to Resolution 11/2011 of the Government. Mr. Hai also admitted that this project is very good in terms of society but the economic efficiency is not high because it only serves the people of one village, while the people have a river to travel./.