Residents living near Lang Tuong canal take care of trees thus beautifying the agricultural commune of Tan Hung Dong. (Photo: VOV)

Beside the Lang Tuong canal, spacious houses are surrounded by rows of trees and colorful flower gardens.

Nguyen Thanh Vinh, one of the leaders of the role-model residential area movement, attributes the achievement to the joint effort of many locals.

“We plant lines of trees along the roads to protect the roads from landslides. Street lights are turned on in the commune at night. A model residential area means the houses are clean and airy and the environment is preserved to protect people’s health,” said Vinh.

The Lang Tuong canal was selected for a role-model residential area in 2017. Each household is responsible for maintaining the lane nearest their house. Residents share responsibility for lighting rural roads and building a village gate.

Villager Pham Tan Tai said, “Since the movement was launched, lines of trees have been planted. In the afternoons, villagers clean the commune lanes.”

Nguyen Van Ro, Vice Chairman of Tan Hung Dong commune People's Committee, said that thanks to increased communications, locals people understand that the role-model residential areas benefit everyone.

According to Ro, the villagers accomplished the easy things first: weeding, planting flower gardens, and dealing with household waste. As they became better-off, they began installing street lights and planting flower borders to beautify the commune.

“People in the Lang Tuong model residential area have completed all 19 criteria of new-style rural building. Generally a cooperative group has been established to help them increase production and develop household economies. As a result, their incomes have improved enough to upgrade their houses and build concrete gates. The achievement is largely due to a 2-year public relations effort,” said Ro.

Following the success of Lang Tuong, the Tan Hung Dong administration is expanding the model to other communes.