(VOV) – Since the launching of the new rural development program two years ago, Hà Mòn commune in Dak Ha district of Kon Tum province has completed most criteria to become the first new rural village of the province and the whole Central Highlands region. VOV’s reporter Khoa Điềm reports Hà Mòn’s experiences in achieving this success.
Since the program on new rural development was launched there, Ha Mon authorities had defined unanimity and unity between the local administration and people the key to success. Thus communications have received special attention. About 1,200 households with more than 4,400 people agreed on implementing the program. Đào Anh Thư is Secretary of the commune’s Party Committee and head of the program’s steering committee “The core is people’s consensus which can be reached if there’s transparency and publicity. Especially, is local leaders ranging from the Party’s Committee Secretary to every staff are whole-hearted for the program.”
Local administration of Hà Mòn commune has successfully mobilized villagers to join hands in developing local infrastructure in line with the motto and one of the program’s criteria “the people do, the government supports”. Such a way has helped many local transport and irrigation works and cultural houses worth about 480,000 USD be completed in a short time with half of the money contributed by villagers. Nghiêm Xuân Tiếp is resident of Bình Minh hamlet “Social welfare works have benefited us much. We have admonished each other to jointly participating in building a meeting hall, village lanes, and an electricity station. We are happy to have the new rural development program.”
Increasing local villagers’ income is another highlight in the program and received specific attention. To deal with the issue in the context the farming land is unable to be expanded, a breakthrough in improving the output and crops quality has been the best choice. To date, coffee and cacao which remain the two key crops and cover 830 ha and 150 ha of the local agricultural acreage have seen gigantic progress. Trương Quang Thu is President of Hà Mòn’s Farmers’ Association “Local people are aware that they can’t have high yield without science and technology application in production. They have been trained and provided with farming knowledge, applied what they learn in the class to their own farms and can recognize practical efficiency. Through spreading by word of mouth, the local have learned a lot farming techniques.”
To have an annual income of over 1,800 USD per capita like now, many people in the commune has invested in developing home crafts including garments, mechanics, and electronics or making full use of 1,000 ha of water surface of Plei Krông hydropower river for aquaculture. Vocational training programs have helped the rural labor find jobs as the number of non-agricultural workforce is on the rise. Nguyễn Kế Trường is Chairperson of the People’s Committee “Local people have enthusiastically responded to the new rural development program. Their cultural and spiritual life has been much improved with more opened way of thinking, way of life and production.”
Another success and a vital experience of Hà Mòn in new rural development is to tap the responsibility of each citizen to the community that help the commune’s authorities complete all 19 criteria to become the first new rural village in Kon Tum provine and the whole region./.
Khoa Điềm