Removing obstacles to bring policies closer to ethnic minority communities.

The implementation of Project 1 contributes to addressing the needs for housing, land for residence and production, and clean water for ethnic minority and mountainous communities in Gia Lai province. Photo: Hoa Binh .

However, during the implementation of these projects, there are still difficulties and obstacles that need to be addressed promptly in order to bring ethnic policies closer to the lives of the people.

To implement Project 1 under the National Target Program 1719, the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee established and strengthened the Steering Committee and organized the implementation apparatus at three levels. In addition, the province proactively issued mechanisms, regulations, and guidelines for management and implementation. The implementation process focused on effectiveness, not on chasing achievements, and especially emphasized the leading role of the people and communities in all stages. Furthermore, Gia Lai province issued Plan 556 on March 12, 2024, setting a target of 92% of ethnic minority people having access to clean drinking water; and regarding resettlement, striving to resolve the land shortage for approximately 50% of ethnic minority households lacking housing and production land.

However, during implementation, many localities are facing difficulties in carrying out Project 1, especially regarding support for residential land, production land, and housing. This is due to the lack of available land and the low amount of support funds, which are insufficient to cover the costs of transferring residential and production land. Therefore, the disbursement rate for housing construction support remains low because some households do not have land use right certificates or have land documents designating the land as perennial crop land, and lack the funds to carry out land use conversion. In addition, some cases are inconsistent with land use planning and plans, do not meet the conditions for land subdivision; lack sufficient legal basis for implementation, and the time required to complete paperwork is lengthy, leading to delays.

Mr. Luyen Van Toan, Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Chu Pah District, said that according to the review results, most poor households of ethnic minorities have stable land use but do not have land use right certificates, making it difficult to select households to receive housing support. In addition, for households that received housing support in 2023, although houses have been built, there is currently insufficient funding to provide the support as stipulated. Not only is there a shortage of land, but the preferential loan capital for 2024, under Decree No. 28/2022/ND-CP, has not yet been allocated by the central government to localities. Therefore, localities that have approved the list of poor households to receive support under Project 1 are still waiting for this capital to integrate with the state budget to implement the support programs.

It is known that the total budget allocated to Gia Lai province for the National Target Program 1719 from 2022 to 2024 is 2,067.5 billion VND. According to the general assessment of Gia Lai province, the implementation of the National Target Program 1719 is currently facing many difficulties. The disbursement rate from 2022 to date has only reached 49.1% of the total allocated capital. The pressure to disburse over 1,000 billion VND in the remaining months of 2024 is immense, mainly for operational expenses.

According to Truong Trung Tuyen, Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of Gia Lai province, the implementation of Project 1 of the National Target Program 1719 has provided housing support to 3,425 households; land support for housing to 1,162 households; land support for production to 11,590 households; support for vocational retraining to 6,463 households; and support for decentralized water supply to 2,554 disadvantaged households in ethnic minority areas. The implementation of Project 1 is of practical significance for poor ethnic minority households, especially those lacking land for housing and production, housing, and facing difficulties with access to clean water. This contributes to helping ethnic minorities and people in mountainous areas of the province feel secure in developing their economy , increasing their income, and improving their living standards. Therefore, in the coming time, Gia Lai province will propose solutions to gradually overcome difficulties in the implementation of this project.

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