Building a model new countryside: Need for special mechanisms

(Baonghean) - By the end of 2017, 100% of communes in Nam Dan district were recognized as meeting New Rural Standards (NTM). Currently, Nam Dan is continuing its journey to build a model New Rural District for the whole country. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Lam Son - Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Nam Dan district about the implementation of this goal.

PV:It is known that up to now, 100% of Nam Dan communes have been recognized as new rural communes. To achieve the above results, how have the Party committees at all levels in Nam Dan focused on leadership and direction, sir?

Comrade Nguyen Lam Son:Identifying the construction of a new rural district as a key and continuous task, Nam Dan District Party Committee issued Resolution No. 04/NQ-HU dated October 24, 2010 on the implementation of the National Target Program on New Rural Construction in Nam Dan District for the period 2010 - 2020.

The District People's Committee issued a project, a specific leadership and direction plan and established a Steering Committee to implement the New Rural Development Program in Nam Dan district for the period 2010 - 2020, headed by the Chairman of the District People's Committee; at the same time, directed 23/23 communes to establish a Commune-level Steering Committee headed by the Party Secretary, a Management Committee headed by the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, a Community Supervision Committee headed by the Chairman of the Commune Fatherland Front Committee, and a Village Development Committee in hamlets.

Each grassroots party organization must develop a specific plan each year. Party committees of communes issue specialized resolutions on building new rural areas; People's Committees of communes develop projects and plans for implementation. The Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations develop action programs and plans to propagate and mobilize union members to participate in building new rural areas.

A corner of Kim Lien village, Nam Dan district. Photo: Thanh Le

Every year, the district establishes working groups to directly direct communes that have registered to reach the finish line in the year, in order to urge, guide and promptly remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing new rural construction in the communes.

Every month, the District Party Committee and the District People's Committee hold meetings with departments, branches and communes to listen to monthly progress reports, from which there are leadership and direction solutions suitable for each commune and each criterion. In particular, the district has played a core role in building the great national unity bloc, building new rural areas and implementing democracy at the grassroots level, such as organizing meetings and dialogues between Party committees, authorities with Party members and people in 24/24 communes and towns (of which the district directly dialogues in 2 communes).

It must be affirmed that the result of 23/23 communes being recognized as meeting NTM standards is the high political determination of the entire political system, in which Party committees and authorities at all levels have specific, proactive, creative, and in-depth directive plans, especially promoting the role and responsibility of leaders at all levels.

PV:Besides the achieved results, what difficulties does Nam Dan still face in the roadmap to build a model new rural district?

Mr. Nguyen Lam Son:In the process of implementing the construction of the new rural district, some criteria are still "unfinished". Specifically, the regional planning of Nam Dan has not been approved yet. Regarding the traffic criteria, some inter-commune and intra-commune roads have degraded and have not been invested in or built.

In addition, the technical infrastructure system is not guaranteed, for example, the Nam Dan District Cultural Center has not met the prescribed standards. These are criteria that require large investment resources, while the district budget and resources from the people are very difficult.

Growing lemons to develop the hill garden economy in Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district. Photo: Thanh Le

In addition to difficulties in funding for new rural construction, Nam Dan also struggles to meet environmental criteria. According to regulations, a district that meets new rural standards must have 60% of its population using clean water and a solid waste treatment system, but currently in Nam Dan, people mainly use clean water and there is no planning for a solid waste treatment system. Environmental pollution in residential areas still exists.

At the same time, the major difficulty of Nam Dan district is that the economy mainly produces agriculture, however, production is still fragmented, small-scale, lacking sustainable links in production, leading to difficulties in output for agricultural products. The restructuring of agricultural structure is still uneven, leading to the average income per capita in some communes being lower than the average of the province. The locality does not have many enterprises investing in the fields of industry, agriculture, and rural areas.

Furthermore, the difficulty of Nam Dan district is that it was chosen as a model new rural district of the whole country, but up to now the Central Government has not had a specific mechanism for the locality.

PV:So to achieve the goal of becoming a model new rural district of the whole country according to Resolution 07 of the Provincial Party Committee dated June 16, 2017 on the direction and tasks of developing Nam Dan district to 2025, with a vision to 2030, what key solutions will Nam Dan focus on?

Mr. Nguyen Lam Son:Implementing the Resolution of the Provincial Party Committee, the Nam Dan District Party Committee issued Plan No. 60 - KH/HU and the Program, implementation project with specific solutions and roadmap. In particular, the district has supplemented the master plan for socio-economic development of Nam Dan district for the period 2020 - 2030, the planning of the expanded Nam Dan town, the master plan of the Kim Lien Special National Tourist Area, Nghe An province to 2020, with a vision to 2030.

Industrial pig farm model in Nam Loc commune, Nam Dan. Photo: Thanh Le

In parallel with accelerating the construction of Kim Lien commune into a model new rural commune, the district will build 1-3 more model new rural communes; submit to the Central and Government for investment in upgrading the special national relic of President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site and a number of large-scale projects in the district.

In the economic field, promote restructuring of the agricultural sector, develop in the direction of concentration, ecological and organic agriculture, apply high technology, have high added value, ensure quality, associated with tourism development. Prioritize the development of clean industry, light industry, advanced technology, use a lot of labor associated with landscape protection, ecological environment, suitable for tourism development requirements.

At the same time, promote administrative reform, improve the effectiveness and efficiency of management and administration of authorities at all levels. Create an open investment environment to attract projects in all fields serving socio-economic development. In particular, the district re-evaluates the district's staff work to have solutions to arrange, assign, train and attract appropriate staff to improve the quality of staff to meet the requirements.

In addition, for Nam Dan to develop commensurate with its potential advantages, to become a model new rural district according to the set goals, along with the efforts of the Party Committee and the people of the district, Nam Dan really needs a special mechanism for the district to build a model new rural area, along with resource support from the Government, ministries, branches, central and provincial agencies.

PV:Thanks for the conversation!

Thanh Le

(Perform)