Resettlement land: Hoping for a green and prosperous future.

(Baonghean) - In late May, visiting Ngoc Lam resettlement commune (Thanh Chuong district), the joy of receiving land ownership certificates ("red books") for their residential land plots was still fresh for many residents. However, alongside the joy, there were still many concerns and anxieties about the lack of determination in the thinking and actions of many people after nearly 10 years of resettlement in this area.

Lack of land, yet land remains fallow.

Lacking arable land and unfamiliar with new farming practices, many residents of Ngoc Lam resettlement area have abandoned their new homes and returned to their old villages to earn a living through various occupations, or even illegally working abroad. For example, in Ta Xieng village, according to Party Secretary Luong Van Hung, dozens of people are currently working illegally abroad, many neglecting their children and returning to Tuong Duong to make a living. Mr. Hung is concerned that the villagers are currently receiving the last two months of post-resettlement rice support from the government, and wonders what they will do to get rice to eat, given that the entire village only has 8.8 hectares of rice land, of which 3.8 hectares were allocated by the Hydropower Plant 2 Management Board, and the rest was reclaimed by the villagers themselves.

Residents of Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong district) receive rice assistance from the government.

While some have left for work elsewhere, many families remain in this new land, clinging to the mindset of relying on government support and unwilling to take control of their own lives. Sadly, among them are the village headman Kim Hong and his wife, Quang Van Phan.

During the conversation, Mr. Phan confided: Born in 1983, he and his wife got married in 2006. In 2010, the family moved to a new place. With the compensation money from the State, they bought wood and borrowed from relatives and villagers to build a house, instead of accepting the resettlement housing built by the State. It wasn't until 2014 that he and his wife received a small plot of paddy land in the Khe Máng area, allocated to them by the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2.

However, to this day, the couple's rice fields remain abandoned. The reason given by Mr. and Mrs. Phan is that they lack buffaloes or oxen for plowing, have no means of production, and furthermore, the fields are far from their home, making cultivation impossible. Mr. Phan stated that the area was allocated to over 20 households, but many families still leave their land fallow due to similar circumstances. Only the household of the Party branch secretary, Ms. Luong Thi Liem, and a few other households manage to cultivate rice.

I asked, "So, what kind of work do you and your wife do every day?" Mr. and Mrs. Phan replied, "There's nothing to do. We want to raise buffaloes, cows, and pigs... but we don't have the money to buy them, and we don't dare borrow money from the bank because we're afraid we won't be able to repay it!" This means that since moving to their new place, Mr. Phan's family has only relied on the monthly rice support from the government. Finally, Mr. Phan confided: "As a Party member and the village head, we're still classified as a poor household, and we're afraid of what people will say. We know this, but we haven't figured out a way to make a living and escape poverty."

Thus, it can be seen that while the commune has very little land for rice cultivation, many cultivated areas are left fallow. Mr. Lo Huy Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngoc Lam commune, said: "To date, Ngoc Lam only has about 100 hectares of land for rice cultivation. Of that, farmers have reclaimed nearly 54 hectares themselves, and the rest was reclaimed and distributed to the people by the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2. With this amount of rice land, it is too little, and the people cannot be self-sufficient in food, because according to regulations, each resettled household is entitled to at least 2 sao (approximately 0.2 hectares) of land for rice cultivation. Ngoc Lam has 1,400 households, so they should have 140 hectares. The newly reclaimed fields are not fertile and difficult to cultivate, so rice farming faces many difficulties. Meanwhile, the people are not yet familiar with the practices of land improvement and rice cultivation, so the yield only reaches 45 quintals/hectare."

Rise to take control of your life.

However, alongside those households lacking business acumen or still heavily reliant on government assistance, there are also examples of hardworking, diligent, and dynamic individuals who have risen above poverty and begun to achieve self-reliance and integrate into life in their new homeland. We met a young couple who dared to think big and act boldly, creating a prosperous green landscape with their own hands. Their small house, with its thatched roof, is located next to a rice paddy reclamation project in Lap village, undertaken by the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2.

Ms. Luong Thi Giang (Mr. Dung's wife) happily said: After moving to the new place, like many other families, the lives of the eight members of our family were difficult due to unemployment. With the thought that we shouldn't wait for the government, and that we could make a living anywhere as long as we were diligent and hardworking, in 2012, leaving our house for my parents to look after, my husband and I brought all four of our children to this area to set up a livestock farm. Here, we built a small house, livestock pens for buffaloes, pigs, and chickens, and fenced off a plot of land for growing vegetables. Taking advantage of the large hillside, we bought buffaloes to graze. Initially, we only had two buffaloes, but now the herd has grown to five. The couple also actively reclaimed 2 sao (approximately 2,000 square meters) of land for rice cultivation, planting two crops a year and harvesting 3 quintals of rice. Although this wasn't enough rice to feed the whole family year-round, it taught them how to plow, sow seedlings, fertilize, and care for rice plants, unlike before in Tuong Duong when they were only familiar with growing rice on hillside fields.

The couple built concrete pillars around their house, about 200 square meters in size, and used barbed wire to fence it off. They also used the land to grow vegetables and bananas, providing fresh produce for their daily meals. In 2013, the government allocated them 8,000 square meters of land on the hillside for annual crop cultivation. They could have planted cassava for two harvests, but ultimately decided to use it for grazing buffalo, as raising buffalo brought in more money and was less strenuous. Thanks to their ability to utilize the land for livestock farming and production, their family's life has become much less difficult. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Dung, many other families in Ngoc Lam commune have also learned to utilize their land's potential to develop production and gradually stabilize their lives.

For example, in Ta Xieng village, where the State allocated land for tea cultivation, forest planting, and nearly 4 hectares of rice paddies, many families now cultivate tea for harvest, and lush green acacia hills have appeared. People know how to take care of their buffaloes and rice crops. Or in Xieng Lam village, Mr. Vi Van Hung knows how to utilize the stream's water by installing a pipe to bring water to his house for production and livestock farming. He built a hut on the hill to plant and care for the forest, raise buffaloes and chickens, and dig a pond for fish farming… Mr. Hung is a prime example in Ngoc Lam commune of family economic development, achieving success through perseverance, diligence, and hard work.

The project to reclaim paddy fields is being carried out by the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2 in Lap village.

After leaving their old homes, life in the resettlement area remains very difficult. Therefore, many people have "given up," returning to their former mountainous areas to make a living without fully understanding the consequences. To overcome these difficulties and challenges, in addition to the support from local authorities and relevant agencies, each resident needs to know how to exploit their potential, actively engage in livestock farming and production, and strive to take control of their own lives.

Mr. Lo Huy Hung, Vice Chairman of the Ngoc Lam Commune People's Committee, added: Currently, the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2 is implementing two projects to reclaim land for rice cultivation, covering approximately 10 hectares. These projects are expected to be completed and distributed to the people for production by the end of 2015. This land will be allocated to the villages of Kim Lien, Kim Hong, Ma, and Lap. However, to avoid the situation of land being divided and then left fallow as before, the commune will consider allocating land to households with the necessary production capacity, rather than distributing it equally as before.

Currently, the commune is distributing 30 hectares of land for annual crop cultivation to 38 households in Kim Hong village. This land was previously used by people from other villages and communes for forestry; it will be handed over after the harvest is complete. Most of the households receiving land this time previously worked far from home, but the local authorities have encouraged them to return and settle in their new homeland. After the land distribution is complete, the local authorities will educate and guide the villagers to plant cassava according to the plan, gradually stabilizing their lives. Hopefully, in the future, joy will become even more evident in this resettlement area with its lush greenery and prosperity...

Xuan Hoang