Do Thanh commune meets new rural standards: Achievements of people's strength...

(Baonghean) - When asked about the greatest achievement in implementing the new rural area construction (NTM), the officials and people of Do Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) were all excited to say that it was the great changes in the appearance of their homeland... We came and "witnessed" the wide, clean concrete roads, the fields after conversion as straight as the storks fly, running squarely along the borders and plots...

The North Wall Canal is under construction. Photo: TH - PH

Starting to build a new rural area, Do Thanh commune has certain advantages. It is a commune with a large population, flat terrain, convenient irrigation, and conditions for agricultural development. Its geographical location is on provincial and district roads, near National Highway 1A, so people have conditions to develop trade and services, and people are active in the market mechanism. The number of people going to work abroad increases every year, contributing significantly to economic development as well as changing the face of the countryside. Do Thanh commune has a tradition of solidarity, and the Party Committee has been clean and strong for many years. However, there are still many difficulties. The ideology of a part of the population is still scattered, affecting the emulation movement to build a new rural area. The security and order situation and social safety still harbor some social evils that have not been pushed back. In particular, the gap between rich and poor households is still far, so mobilizing internal resources to invest in infrastructure construction is still difficult.

Faced with that situation, the leaders of Do Thanh commune determined that the first thing to do is to do a good job of propaganda and mobilization of people to voluntarily participate in building the new rural areas. Chairman of the People's Committee, Head of the Steering Committee for building the new rural areas - Mr. Nguyen Van Xuyen said: "We focus on doing a good job of propaganda and mobilization, creating a change in awareness among each cadre, party member and people through the mass media, through the activities of political and social organizations, and propaganda forms. Organize for cadres to visit and study models and receive training to disseminate the State's policies on building the new rural areas. At the same time, well implement the grassroots democracy regulations, create high consensus in the Party and people, do everything according to the motto "People know, people discuss, people voluntarily participate and people enjoy". Together with mobilizing internal resources of the people, the commune makes the most of investment capital, calling on successful children who are working far from home to contribute to building the homeland.

Those methods, combined with the attention and direction of authorities at all levels, the assignment of specific responsibilities, the arrangement of programs and projects, the maximum mobilization and effective use of all resources, have made the success of building new rural areas in the Capital. In particular, we advocate implementing on the basis of inheriting the existing status and making reasonable adjustments to the actual conditions in the locality, avoiding unnecessary disruption and waste. Selecting appropriate content and criteria, close to the specific conditions for implementation, at the same time promoting the inherent traditions of each hamlet, each clan, each family in the movement to build new rural areas".

Rural traffic roads in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district.

As one of the two hamlets awarded in the new rural construction movement, Xuan Lai hamlet impresses with its peaceful and prosperous appearance. Located next to the Vach Bac River, in the not-so-distant memory of the people here, whether it was rainy or sunny days, traveling on the narrow hamlet roads was very difficult... Therefore, in order to expand, donating 60 square meters of land on both sides of the road of her house, on which there was a solid embankment, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong - a resident in the hamlet did not feel sorry. She happily said: “We lost a little land but the roads are much nicer, more convenient to travel, cleaner, and during harvest season we can still use it to dry straw, so that relatives and friends who live far away can come home by car... Unlike before, when it rained, the ground was muddy, many years ago when we went out to celebrate Tet, we went to other people's houses and then wanted to go back because... we were covered in dirty mud! The same goes for the fields, if before my family only had less than 3 sao of rice fields, scattered in 3 fields, now we only have one plot left. The banks and fields are big so it is very convenient to travel and produce, and when the season comes we can hire plows and harvesters to do the work, which is fast and saves labor.”

Mr. Luyen Thanh Tuong (Head of Xuan Lai Hamlet) shared: If anyone came to Xuan Lai a few years ago and now comes back, they will clearly see the changes. In 2012, along with Sung Yen, Xuan Lai was one of the two hamlets in the commune chosen as the site for land consolidation and plot exchange. With the consensus and support of the people, and with open, reasonable and fair discussions, Xuan Lai very quickly completed the "project" of land consolidation and plot exchange. Each household still has an average of 1 or 2 plots of rice, the main road on the field has been widened from 2m to 5m, the bank is 2.5m, with concrete ditches on both sides. The fields have been re-arranged, in addition to creating favorable conditions for people's travel and production, it also helps to promote mechanization in the fields. Currently, the hamlet has 10 plowing and harrowing machines, and when harvest season comes, harvesters come from other places to serve farmers to harvest quickly.

From those achievements, in 2013, Xuan Lai hamlet began to work on rural traffic. Through the transparent and clear way of doing things, the people unanimously supported. In addition to the hamlet meeting to mobilize people to contribute labor and money to build the road, the hamlet also organized separate meetings with households on both sides of the road along each route, mobilizing people to donate land to widen the road. As for Mr. Luyen Thanh Tuong's family, the road next to his house was "cut" into his land by 2m, the road on the other side by 1m, the residential land area from 274 m2 to 164 m2. "In the countryside, that much residential land is considered cramped, but my wife and I did not hesitate to knock down the surrounding wall to donate land, both for the people to see and for the common good" - Mr. Tuong confided. In addition to more than 120 tons of cement supported by the State, people contributed labor and money, each person on average nearly 1 million VND, donated 6,000m2 of land, the value of constructions on the land was about 200 million VND to build roads. Some other households such as Mr. Hoang Minh Quang voluntarily donated land and 60m of embankment and auxiliary works; Mr. Nguyen Ba Ngoc's household voluntarily donated land even though they had to destroy the newly built gate system worth 20 million VND... Thanks to that, up to now, the hamlet has built nearly 1,800m of standard concrete road, 3m wide and 0.2m thick, cars can enter 100% of the alleys.

Bamboo and rattan weaving class in Do Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Tran Canh Yen

With appropriate methods, up to now, Do Thanh has completed 19/19 criteria, the total implementation cost is up to 135 billion 802 million VND, of which people contributed over 65 billion VND. People have voluntarily donated 2 hectares of land for rural roads, the inter-commune road system, commune and hamlet roads are 100% asphalted or concreted, alley roads are concreted or filled with clean gravel, no longer muddy in the rainy season. The concreted irrigation system basically meets the requirements of proactive irrigation for rice cultivation and aquaculture areas, supplying water for daily life and draining water. People's lives are increasingly improved. Average income per capita in 2014 reached approximately 24 million VND/person/year. From 2011 to 2014, people invested in building new, upgrading, and renovating houses and other works with an estimated cost of over 200 billion VND, the poverty rate decreased to 4.35%. In the commune, there are 2 rattan and bamboo weaving export craft villages that have been recognized by the province: Yen Hoi and Bac Vuc craft villages. In particular, the good work of labor export has contributed strongly to changing the face of rural areas in Do Thanh, improving people's lives with income from labor export reaching up to 136 billion VND.

The cultural and spiritual life of the people has also been improved. Cultural and sports institutions, schools, and basic facilities meet the prescribed standards. In addition to the system of sports grounds and cultural houses of the commune, 14/14 hamlets have cultural houses and sports grounds that meet the prescribed standards. Currently, the commune is implementing the construction of a clean water plant to serve the needs of the people. There are no activities causing environmental pollution in the area, waste is collected and treated away from residential areas. Trees are planted in public places and on roads; the work of protecting and preserving a green, clean, and beautiful environment is paid attention to and maintained regularly, village roads and alleys are clean and beautiful, and there are no situations of disorder, conflicts, disputes, complications, mass complaints, or over-leveling.

Phu Huong