From a land of "bombs and bullets" to a model new countryside

In 2015, Hoa Tu 1 was recognized as meeting the NTM standards; in 2021, it met the advanced NTM standards and by the end of 2024, the commune reached the NTMKM finish line. Mr. Le Van To, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Tu 1 commune, said that the participation of the entire political system was an important driving force to help Hoa Tu 1 reach the finish line as the 3rd NTMKM commune in Soc Trang province.

From a "dead land", Hoa Tu 1 has become a model new rural commune.

In the period of 2021-2025, the commune leaders directed the synchronous implementation of criteria, applying and integrating programs, projects and movements deployed in rural areas, especially the movement "All people unite to build new rural areas and civilized urban areas", following the motto of relying mainly on the internal strength of the community, with partial support from the State budget, while encouraging economic sectors to participate. The construction of new rural areas must ensure that "people know, people discuss, people do, people inspect and people benefit".

The total mobilized budget for the construction of new rural areas in the 2021-2024 period is over VND 949.5 billion. Of which, the central budget is VND 14.7 billion; the provincial budget is VND 33.3 billion; the district budget is VND 30.3 billion; the combined capital is VND 161.1 billion; credit capital is VND 513.5 billion; enterprise capital is VND 97.7 billion and people's contributions are over VND 98.7 billion. Every year, the People's Committee of the commune develops a plan to implement the program of rapid and sustainable poverty reduction. In the past 4 years, the commune has mobilized the construction and repair of houses for 64 poor and near-poor households in the area.

The construction of a new rural area with outstanding digital transformation is an achievement of Hoa Tu 1, contributing to changing many aspects of people's lives in the commune. 70% (6,780/9,680) of people of working age are popularized with knowledge about using computers and basic digital skills. The working-age population of the commune is 10,617 people, of which 8,960 people use smartphones, reaching a smartphone subscription rate of 84.39%. 100% of OCOP products in the commune are introduced and promoted on the Soc Trang e-commerce platform. 100% (8/8) of hamlets have households watching cable TV, digital terrestrial TV, and TV via the Internet.

In addition, to facilitate people to participate in "digitalization", Hoa Tu 1 has implemented free wifi hotspots at the headquarters of the Commune People's Committee, Police, Military Command, Commune Cultural House, Commune Health Station, Post Office, Religious Facilities, and Schools. Currently, the commune has 1 level 3 post office in operation, fully meeting the requirements for facilities and services according to regulations; computers to serve and support people to perform online public services...

Infrastructure serving the implementation of information technology applications and online conferences of the commune with all levels, including: fiber optic Internet network, specialized data transmission network, internal network; computers with software installed for management and operation, handling administrative procedures, video conferencing; peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, cameras, etc. meeting regulations. The satisfaction of people and businesses with handling administrative procedures at the commune level reached 93.81%.

Mr. Ma Thanh Son, Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Hoa Tu 1 commune shared: "Hoa Tu 1 has been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a new rural commune in 2024 with the outstanding criterion of digital transformation. In the coming time, Hoa Tu 1 commune will focus on replicating shrimp - rice - color production models, expanding livestock models; improving the criteria of a new rural commune and developing the fields of culture, education, and health, to ensure that people enjoy quality public services".

Mr. Luong Van A (residing in Hoa Phuong hamlet, Hoa Tu 1 commune) said: “Previously, to go to My Xuyen town with a route of less than 20km, people had to get up at 4am to catch the ferry, there was only one trip every day departing at 5am, arriving in town at 8am. Now, any road is fine. The shrimp-rice development axis from the commune to Soc Trang city is more than 25km, the car runs smoothly, it takes less than 30 minutes to get there. Electricity, roads, schools, and stations are complete, people's lives have been improved many times, nothing is more exciting".

Mr. Dang Minh Liet (Mr. A's neighbor) said: “Currently, we produce according to the shrimp-rice model, one rice crop per year, two shrimp crops. The rice is the ST25 variety (World's best rice in 2019 and 2023 - PV), the yield is 6.5 tons/ha, the selling price is from 7,000 - 8,000 VND/kg; raising black tiger shrimp also gives farmers 700kg/ha/crop. Calculating the total rice and shrimp, farmers earn from 100-120 million VND/ha, many times higher than growing rice before. There are hundreds of farmers' cars in the commune."

Mr. Dang Van Phuong, Secretary of My Xuyen District Party Committee, said: “In the early years of the province’s re-establishment (1992), Hoa Tu 1 was a poor commune, people’s lives faced many difficulties; monoculture rice production, one rice crop a year, yielding about 2 tons/ha; transportation was mainly by boat; electricity had not been invested. Now Hoa Tu 1 has completely changed. This is a source of pride, a favorable condition for the homeland of Nam Ky uprising to transform and rise up strongly”.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/doi-song/tu-vung-dat-bom-cay-dan-xoi-tro-thanh-nong-thon-moi-kieu-mau-i763686/