Hope to invest in power grid soon

Difficulty in production and life

Mr. Nguyen Tan Thuan's family in Group 5, Village 1, Long Ha Commune cultivates 2 hectares of durian. This is a crop that requires a lot of water for irrigation during the dry season. Because this area has not yet invested in an electricity grid, Mr. Thuan has to use a generator to pump water from the stream to irrigate the garden. The cost of buying oil each month is nearly 2 million VND. Without electricity, fruit growers like Mr. Thuan have difficulty finding water sources for irrigation. Since 2001, Mr. Thuan and more than 30 households have shared a power line more than 1km away from their homes. Over time, the temporary power poles have become crooked, the power lines are strung along fences and gardens, and many sections have fallen close to the ground.

Last year during the rainy season, an electric pole fell into a barbed wire fence. When Mr. Thuan’s wife was gardening nearby, she was suddenly electrocuted. After the accident, many people were worried about the unsafe electrical situation. Mr. Thuan said: “When the accident happened, I called the Village Executive Committee and some people in the neighborhood to put the electric pole up. After a while, the electric pole also became crooked, and the wires fell down the fence. Every time we go out to garden, my wife and I are very worried.”

Not only Mr. Thuan but also many households growing fruit trees, pepper, and coffee have encountered difficulties when having to pump water with a generator. Previously, Mr. Dinh Van Que's family designed an automatic pepper garden irrigation system using a generator. Because it was not effective, he abandoned the automatic irrigation system and switched to manual irrigation. Mr. Thuan really hopes that this area will be invested in grid electricity to develop more pepper acreage, because this is a crop with high economic value.

Without electricity, Mr. Nguyen Tan Thuan had to use a generator to pump water to irrigate his durian garden.

Most households that have temporarily connected to electricity have to leave their meters outdoors several hundred meters away from their homes. People mainly use electricity for lighting at night, and to pump water from the well to the tank, they have to wait until 10 p.m. or early in the morning. During peak hours, the electricity is very weak, and many families have to turn off electrical appliances. Only people living in areas lacking electricity can understand the hardships of daily life, work, and production. They always long for electricity to serve their production, to light up their dream of getting rich on their own land. At meetings with voters, households have repeatedly petitioned the electricity industry to invest in the project, but so far it has not been resolved due to land clearance problems.

People in group 5, village 1, Long Ha commune, Phu Rieng district illegally connected electricity

Just because of... 250m of rubber plot

Through the survey, Phu Rieng Power Company, Binh Phuoc Power Company said that to ensure power supply in Group 5, Village 1, Long Ha Commune, it is necessary to invest in 300m of 22kV medium voltage line, a 1x50kVA transformer station, renovate and upgrade the existing low voltage line, and at the same time extend 1,200m of low voltage line for 2 branches without power grid. To construct the low voltage grid, the medium voltage line must pass through 250m of rubber plot of Long Ha Farm belonging to Phu Rieng Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. And it is necessary to clear rubber trees along the corridor, ensuring safe operation of the grid.

Households living in this area said that, because they wanted to have electricity, in 2021, they voluntarily contributed 25 million VND, which was used to support the clearance of rubber trees of the farm. However, the clearance of the land for the construction of medium and low voltage power grids still depends on two agencies: the People's Committee of Phu Rieng district and Phu Rieng Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, Head of the Front Committee of Village 1, said: "The bottleneck that needs to be resolved is to clear 250m, cut down 62 rubber trees of Long Ha Farm to be able to run medium and low voltage power lines to residential areas. To accompany the superiors, 35 households voluntarily contributed money to support the clearance and cutting of rubber trees. Currently, this amount is kept by the Village Executive Board. Up to now, the low voltage branch line has been drilled, but the People's Committee of Phu Rieng district has not worked with Phu Rieng Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. to cut down rubber trees".

Medium and low voltage power grid project in group 5, village 1, Long Ha commune cannot be constructed due to rubber trees

Implementing the national target program on new rural construction, in recent years, Long Ha commune has invested in spacious infrastructure, contributing to changing the appearance of the countryside. Thereby, the rate of electricity usage of people in the whole commune has reached 99%. However, in areas far from the center, some branch roads have not yet been invested in the grid. The whole commune has more than 30 power lines that were strung by people themselves, not ensuring safety.

For the power line in Group 5, Village 1, people have been pulling it themselves for many years, the line is overloaded and the electricity is very weak. The commune has made a report to the authorities to pull electricity to this area. Currently, if the rubber trees are to be cut, the People's Committee of Phu Rieng District must work with Phu Rieng Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. to make a decision to reclaim the land. After that, the electricity sector will invest in the project. It may not be possible to do it right away, because it will have to wait until the merger of the commune-level and provincial-level administrative units comes into operation, then the next steps will be assigned to the managing unit.

Chairman of Long Ha Commune People's Committee PHAM VAN THE

A representative of Phu Rieng Power Company said that the procedures for liquidating rubber trees take a lot of time, while the electricity industry's investment capital plan must be completed within the year. From 2022 to now, Phu Rieng Power Company has repeatedly requested competent authorities, especially the People's Committee of Phu Rieng district, to remove difficulties and obstacles, but so far the site clearance work has not been carried out. Mr. Tran Khac Thinh, Deputy Director of Phu Rieng Power Company said: "For many years, due to site clearance problems, Phu Rieng Power Company has not been able to construct the power grid in Group 5, Village 1, Long Ha Commune. We hope that Phu Rieng District People's Committee will urge relevant agencies to carry out site clearance and cut rubber trees so that the electricity industry can invest in the project."

In response to voters' petitions, Phu Rieng Electricity is implementing the renovation of the low-voltage power grid leading to the residential area of village 1 cultural house, in order to supply electricity to the people, including 35 households on the branch road of group 5. The project is expected to be completed in July this year. However, this is only a temporary solution, in the long term, this area will only be invested in electricity projects when the site clearance is completed. And this issue really needs the participation of the authorities so that people can soon invest in the power grid.

Phu Rieng Electricity workers construct low voltage grid in residential area of village 1, Long Ha commune