From the populated “white” zone to the stable belt
Spread across the border communes of the province, the Economic-Defense area managed by Economic-Defense Group 327 is considered one of the most outstanding examples of Quang Ninh in closely combining socio -economic development with strengthening national defense and security. Since the late 1970s - when the Northeastern border was still extremely complicated, sparsely populated, lacking infrastructure, and the lives of the Dao, San Chi, Tay people... were still full of difficulties, the 327 soldiers began their journey to stay in their villages, build villages, open roads, and create a foundation for a long-term border stability strategy. More than half a century has passed, and that journey has become a special mark: Turning the difficult border area into a sustainable development belt, where economy and defense blend together, creating a complete defense posture from the grassroots.
Since being assigned the task of building two economic-defense zones of over 65,000 hectares, Group 327 has determined a dual goal: both helping people escape poverty and stabilize their livelihoods, and forming an organized border population system with sufficient conditions to contribute to the defense posture. During the 2010-2025 period, under the direct leadership of the Party Standing Committee and the Military Region Command, Group 327 has closely coordinated with the locality, mobilizing many resources to invest in the construction of dozens of essential infrastructure works, combined military-civilian works; guiding and supporting people to participate in infrastructure construction.
Dozens of important civil works have been completed, including roads, bridges, power grids, irrigation, schools, medical stations... Typical examples include the Phinh Ho irrigation project in Hai Son commune, which helps irrigate more than 200 hectares of rice and crops, controls floods during the rainy season, and facilitates two rice crops per year; or the Sam Quang - Landmark 1305 route, which helps people in border areas travel conveniently. By 2025, 100% of villages and hamlets in the project area will have car roads to the center, national grid electricity to each household, and the rate of households using clean water is increasing; all communes and wards in the project area have completed the new rural goals.
If in the first years of implementation, many villages along the border were still "empty residential areas", today, those lands have become stable residential clusters, closely connected with the military force. In the period 2015 - 2025, Group 327 brought to the border over 1,200 households with nearly 5,000 people; formed 17 new villages and hamlets, completely eliminating the population gap on the route. A typical example is Phat Chi village, Dong Van commune (now Hoanh Mo). In 2015, there were 29/37 poor and near-poor households here, many households wanted to move elsewhere because of too many difficulties. Group 327 brought electricity grid, built a domestic water system; sent cadres down to "eat - live - speak the same language of the people", guided on growing rice, planting forests, and raising buffaloes and cows. After nearly 10 years, Phat Chi has become a bright spot of the KT-QP program. In Zone 9 (Mong Cai 1 Ward), a previously uninhabited saltwater wetland, the Delegation coordinated with local authorities to implement 5 migration campaigns with 357 households, supporting land, housing construction costs, road construction, and school construction - creating a new residential community right next to the border, contributing to maintaining national sovereignty .
Production development is a key task because only when people have sustainable livelihoods can they stay in the village and protect the border for a long time. The delegation has effectively implemented a model of supporting seeds, techniques, breeds, and crops of economic value. Implementing the volunteer youth intellectual program (Government Project 174), dozens of agricultural, forestry, livestock, and medical engineers have "held hands and guided" the people. The models of "3 sticking, 4 together", "6 eradicating" have been persistently implemented, changing the thinking and working methods of the people. In the past 3 years alone, the delegation has supported 127 cows, 80 breeding goats, 2,000 plum trees; transferred honey beekeeping techniques, planted medicinal plants under the forest canopy, planted temperate fruit trees (plums, pears, oranges, tangerines)... Thanks to that, many households have had an income of 60 - 150 million VND/year, the poverty rate has decreased rapidly and steadily. In Binh Lieu (old) alone, the poverty rate dropped from 43.27% (2010) to 16.53% (2015). Up to now, the communes in the project area have met the new rural standards.
Not only paying attention to infrastructure development - livelihood, Group 327 also pays special attention to social security and building "people's hearts". The military-civilian infirmary of Forest Farm 155 in Hoanh Mo has become a fulcrum for health care for people in remote areas. Military medical troops often stay in the village, treating patients as relatives. The program "Helping children go to school" helps hundreds of poor students have the conditions to continue studying. The Group's forces also coordinate to organize legal propaganda, preserve national identity, prevent early marriage, incestuous marriage, and build a new cultural life. Many programs "Spring on the border - Tet with military-civilian affection" are organized, contributing to strengthening people's trust in the Party and State, creating a stable social environment - a prerequisite for building a solid defense zone.
One of the greatest successes of the 327th Regiment is the way of “eating together - living together - working together - speaking the same language as the people”. Each infrastructure project, each economic model or each new residential area is not only the result of State management, but also the result of the close relationship between the army and the people. The image of soldiers helping people repair houses, harvest rice, take patients through the forest to the infirmary... is not only a humane story, but also a link of trust - the core element of the people's defense posture.
Thanks to the method of staying close to the people and villages and the models of combining socio-economic development with strengthening national defense and security, Economic-Defense Group 327 has created a stable border network. Each road, each household leading to the border, each production development model... are "living milestones" contributing to protecting the sovereignty of the Fatherland right from the grassroots.
Together with the people, build a strong security "shield"
Along with socio-economic development, Economic-Defense Group 327 always identifies the task of protecting the border and maintaining national security as the core. The unit is both close to the people and the locality, building a solid defense posture from the grassroots; at the same time, creating a close connection between the armed forces and more than 12,190 households with 47,565 people of 21 ethnic minorities living on the border.
Since the early years, Economic-Defense Group 327 has closely coordinated with the police, militia and local authorities to deploy measures to ensure security and order along the entire border. Every day, officers and soldiers patrol strategic routes and key areas, strictly control border crossings, and at the same time grasp the population situation and complex developments, promptly detect and handle violations of the law, illegal intrusion or internal conflicts.
Along with that, the Delegation synchronously implemented the population relocation and resettlement program, forming more than 17 new villages and hamlets with over 1,200 households and about 5,000 people, turning previously sparsely populated and difficult areas into stable residential areas. These "soft shields" not only contribute to protecting the border, landmarks, protective forests and public property, but also form a self-governing network of people, consolidating the inter-connected defense posture from the grassroots. By 2025, about 85% of the border lines will have residents, while more than 90% of rural roads in the project area will be concreted, facilitating patrolling, force mobilization and control of key areas.
Along with patrolling and resettlement activities, Unit 327 pays special attention to disseminating laws and policies to each village and hamlet. During the period of 2010 - 2025, the unit coordinated with localities to organize hundreds of propaganda sessions, of which 215 sessions were conducted in the recent period with more than 5,250 people participating. The content focused on the National Border Law, the Law on Crime Prevention, policies on land, population, agriculture and social security. Field seminars, cultural exchanges, and propaganda sessions in remote villages such as Khe O (Luc Hon), Pac Cuong, Loong Vai, Phat Chi (Hoanh Mo), Van Toc (Quang Duc), Than Phun (Hai Son) have helped Dao, San Chi, Tay people... grasp their rights and responsibilities, proactively participate in protecting the border and local security and order.
The group also implements the motto of "eating together - living together - working together - speaking the same language as the people", helping officers and soldiers to complete their military tasks and become close friends, teachers and companions to the people. Through the implementation of Project 1371, the force has organized 324 defense - security training sessions for householders, contributing to creating a legal foundation, raising awareness and strengthening solid trust right from the grassroots. Staying close to the people, staying close to the villages, combining patrolling, controlling, guiding people to prevent social evils, coordinating to protect essential infrastructure works and disseminating the law has formed a solid defense - security network, closely connecting the armed forces and the community.
In particular, the dissemination of laws associated with the preservation of cultural identity is focused on by Group 327. Propaganda sessions guide people to practice civilized lifestyles, prevent incestuous marriages and early marriages, and preserve traditional languages, scripts, and festivals. People are raised to be aware of their rights and responsibilities in protecting sovereignty, and proactively participate in economic, cultural, and social movements, strengthening their trust in the government and armed forces. The movements "All people participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security", "Youth volunteers to protect the border", "Twinned residential clusters on both sides of the border" are strongly promoted, creating a community lifestyle associated with the task of protecting the border.
Thanks to the method of staying close to the people and villages, the 327th Regiment has created a solid position of people's hearts. The models of patrolling, disseminating laws, protecting the border and preserving national culture combined with the migration program, population arrangement, and essential infrastructure works have formed a solid foundation to maintain security and national defense along the entire border. Each village, each patrol route and each legal propaganda session serves the parallel goals of sustainable development and national defense consolidation, creating a strong consensus between the armed forces and the people.
Colonel Nguyen Huy Phu, Party Secretary and Political Commissar of Economic-Defense Group 327, emphasized: Faced with increasingly high task requirements, with opportunities intertwined with many difficulties and challenges, Economic-Defense Group 327 will continue to promote the tradition of "Solidarity - Urgency - Courage - Determination to Win", thoroughly grasping the motto "Where there are people, there is national defense; where there are troops, there is change". In the coming time, Group 327 will continue to closely follow the resolutions and directives of the Party, the Military Region and the province; focus on completing the goals of the economic-defense project for the 2025-2030 period, focusing on completing the infrastructure of border villages, ensuring that 100% of households have electricity, clean water, roads, schools, and medical stations; arrange and relocate residents to sparsely populated border areas, forming solid, interconnected border village clusters. The unit will also promote the application of science and technology, build a local database, improve the effectiveness of grasping the situation of population, ethnicity and religion to serve the work of mass mobilization, propaganda and maintaining political security.
Looking back over half a century of construction, the 327th Economic-Defense Group has proven that the combination of economy, security and national defense can turn the difficult border area into a solid belt, where the people are the core force, together with the army, building a sustainable border, protecting national sovereignty. Population figures, law dissemination sessions, patrol routes and infrastructure projects are vivid proof of this result.
Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/hat-nhan-phat-trien-vung-bien-kinh-te-quoc-phong-dong-bac-3384799.html
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