(VOVworld) – Dong Tam province is one of three communes in Yen The district, Bac Giang province, to pilot the National Target Program on building new rural areas. In one year, the commune has seen significant changes. Transportation is more convenient; people’s incomes have improved; and tree growing and animal raising have been restructured effectively.


Yen The chicken has gained firm market share (photo:bacgiang.gov.vn)

Inter-village and commune connecting roads in Dong Tam have been made much more convenient. Zigzagging, narrow lanes between villages have been expanded and paved following new rural area criteria. More than 200 households in Dong Tam donated over 2.5 ha of land for building roads. 7 households in Tan Soi village donated 4,000 square meters of residential and farm land to build inter-village roads. Nguyen Van Thanh contributed nearly 1,000 square meters of land. "My family has 5,000 square meters of land and I gave 1,000 to the authorities. The government and people are working together to build larger, more convenient roads. We volunteer to do it. We want to make the countryside more beautiful and prosperous." Thanh said.

The Dong Tam commune People’s Committee has vigorously applied new rural area criteria on production, society, culture, political system, and security since 2012.

Building new rural areas improves people’s incomes and living conditions, so local authorities have focused on developing husbandry, mostly raising chickens. Dong Tam commune has the largest chicken farm industry in Yen The district - tens of thousands of chickens. Chicken raisers now have stable incomes. Farmer Nguyen Lam Trung says: "Last year my family raised over 6,000 chickens. In February, we sold 2,000 to earn 28 million Dong. In May we sold 4,000 at low prices and lost 42 million Dong. Later last year, we raised more chicken and earned 220 million Dong. This year, chicken prices have increased."

Dong Tam commune was formed from Yen The farm 3 years ago. Since household economies have improved, the commune has been able to build infrastructure like electricity, roads, schools, and clinics. The commune has met 11 of the 19 criteria of new rural areas.

The commune now is facing difficulties related to officials’ capability, capital, and labor structure. Luu Xuan Vuong is Chairman of the Yen The district People’s Committee. "We’ll initiate criteria on labor restructuring from agriculture to non-agriculture. The district has planned to build industrial clusters to attract labor. We have called for investment in industrial sectors. The Yen The Garments Company created jobs for 5,000 workers. The district offers vocational training for farmers."

Dong Tam commune, Yen The district, is determined to complete all 19 criteria for new rural areas by 2015.