Arranging facilities after commune merger: Much work remains to be done

Hoang Son Commune Public Administration Service Center. Photo: Viet Huong

Flexible office layout

Formed on the basis of 4 old communes: Cam Tam, Cam Chau, Cam Van and Cam Yen, the mountainous commune of Cam Van has a natural area of 88.71 km2 and a population of more than 22,700 people. This is a commune with a large area, divided by mountains and hills, and many economic difficulties. When arranging and setting up the facilities of the offices, the locality has flexibly created favorable conditions for people to travel and transact. The headquarters of the Party Committee, People's Council, and Fatherland Front Committee of the commune are located at the old Cam Yen Commune Office; the headquarters of the People's Committee, the Public Administration Service Center, and the Public Service Center are located at the old Cam Tam Commune Office; the commune police are located at the old Cam Chau Commune Office. The old Cam Van Commune Office is temporarily sealed and a guard is arranged to watch over the property.

Secretary of Cam Van Commune Party Committee Bui Thanh Minh said: “The current arrangement of the headquarters is to reduce the pressure on facilities and equipment, and to reuse old offices. Moreover, the arrangement of the People's Committee, the Public Administration Service Center, and the Public Service Center in the old Cam Tam Commune will create more favorable conditions for people to come to do transactions, because this is the central location of the new commune. However, the commune headquarters hardly meet the requirements for working space for the current apparatus with more functions. The commune Party Committee is in one place, the commune People's Committee is in another place, and the distance is far from each other, so it will certainly affect the work of meetings, conferences, and implementation of tasks in the locality.”

It is known that from the commune Party Committee headquarters to the Cam Van commune People's Committee headquarters, people have to travel a distance of more than 16km. It is worth mentioning that the traffic system in this mountainous commune is not synchronous, many main traffic routes in the commune have degraded, making it difficult to travel, especially during the rainy season. From the Cam Van commune People's Committee headquarters to the commune police headquarters are also far apart, so people will have a hard time traveling to do administrative procedures. Although the commune has arranged a working group with the public administrative service center to support people, it will take time for people to get used to the change compared to going to the commune office as before.

Pressure on facilities also makes it difficult for the locality to arrange workplaces for cadres, civil servants and public employees. The commune People's Committee headquarters does not have enough working rooms, so the locality has had to flexibly arrange the workplaces of the Standing Committee of the Commune People's Council to the commune Party Committee headquarters. The commune Party Committee has had to make use of the old classrooms to arrange working rooms. The commune People's Committee also had to make use of the conference hall and the "backstage" rooms of the conference hall to have enough working places for cadres, civil servants and public employees. Notably, in Cam Van commune, there are nearly 30 cadres, civil servants and public employees working far from home, the farthest distance is more than 20km, so Cam Van commune has had to make use of and renovate old rooms and warehouses to make kitchens and temporary resting places for those who stay overnight.

In Hoang Son commune, the arrangement and layout of facilities are carried out flexibly, basically meeting work requirements. Currently, the headquarters of the Party Committee and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hoang Son commune are located at the old Hoang Cat commune office; the headquarters of the People's Committee of the commune is located at the old Hoang Xuyen commune office; the commune police are located at the old Hoang Son commune office. In the commune, there are 2 headquarters that are currently vacant: the old Hoang Trinh commune office and the old Hoang Son commune office (from the time of arrangement and merger in the period of 2019-2021).

Secretary of the Hoang Son Commune Party Committee Le Xuan Thu said: "Currently, Hoang Son Commune has more than 80 cadres, civil servants, and public employees; in addition, there are armed forces such as the police and military . Taking advantage of the facilities of the three old communal offices, we basically ensure the facilities for the new apparatus to operate. However, the workplace of some departments and offices at the commune People's Committee headquarters is still cramped, especially the commune's public administrative service center. The commune has a plan to prioritize renovation, repair, and construction of a conference center combined with an online meeting room, a public reception room, and a public administrative service center, creating convenience for work and better serving the people. However, operating the headquarters at the same time also leads to a lot of waste, especially administrative costs".

Need more itinerary

According to Resolution No. 1686/NQ-UBTVQH15 dated June 16, 2025 of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Thanh Hoa province has 166 commune-level administrative units. On average, 3-4 communes are merged into a new commune with a larger area and population. Of the 166 new communes and wards, 27 communes and wards in the central location are reusing the facilities of the previous districts, towns and cities, so they are more convenient in the process of operation. Many other communes and wards in the province are reusing old offices as workplaces, but they are in a situation of "both excess and shortage". There is a surplus in quantity due to surplus after rearrangement, but there is a lack of functions and usable area to meet the new requirements with a larger scale of the apparatus.

Secretary of the Cam Van Commune Party Committee Bui Thanh Minh said: “The current arrangement of the office is only a temporary solution. In the long term, when conditions permit, I think it is necessary to invest in building and upgrading facilities, and arrange the apparatus to be concentrated in one place, except for special units such as schools and medical stations. Survey, plan, and invest in inter-regional traffic routes according to the new administrative unit to facilitate trade between officials and people.”

In fact, with a long-term orientation, investment in construction and upgrading of facilities, unification of a single focal point is necessary, but it puts a financial burden on localities. Meanwhile, there are many redundant offices after the merger, but the actual handling of redundant public assets is currently still entangled, complicated, and not suitable for reality.

Since June 2025, implementing the Prime Minister's Official Dispatch on the implementation of the arrangement and handling of headquarters and facilities when reorganizing administrative units at all levels, the Provincial People's Committee has sent an official dispatch to departments, branches and localities to direct on this issue. Accordingly, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested heads of agencies, organizations, units and localities to proactively arrange and harmonize internal housing and land facilities to ensure working headquarters for agencies, organizations and units under their management during the reorganization of administrative units at all levels; to be completed within 3 months from the date the project on the arrangement of the apparatus and administrative units is approved by the competent authority. Review and evaluate existing headquarters buildings under their management to rearrange, allocate and use them for the right objects and purposes, ensuring efficiency. At the same time, there must be plans and strategies to manage and immediately handle unused, ineffectively used, or improperly used offices in accordance with relevant laws, to prevent loss or waste of State assets.

The proactive role of localities in assessing and proposing plans to reuse or handle redundant headquarters is an important factor. However, to implement this issue synchronously and effectively, it is necessary to soon issue unified legal regulations that are suitable for practice so that local authorities have a basis to organize, classify, convert, auction, and effectively handle previously redundant public assets and post-merger surplus public assets in the current period.

Viet Huong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/sap-xep-co-so-vat-chat-sau-sap-nhap-xa-con-nhieu-viec-phai-lam-254735.htm