Need a bridge!

The boat carrying the students that capsized on May 23, 2025 is located at the ferry terminal in Chom Mot village, Quy Luong commune.

Located more than 10km from the center of Quy Luong commune, Chom Mot village is like an "oasis" because it is separated from the outside by the Ma River. The whole village has 135 households, with 616 people, but there are 15 poor households, 21 near-poor households, 99% of the people in the village are Muong ethnic group. This is also a particularly difficult village in Quy Luong commune. The lives of the people in the village depend only on growing rice, corn, bamboo, reed and raising poultry.

Because it is located far away, people here want to go to the center of Quy Luong commune to take a boat across the Ma River. If going by road, people need to cross the steep limestone mountain leading to Dien Lu commune and then turn down, or cross the dirt road to Cam Thach commune and then turn up. Both of these roads, in the rainy season, are almost impossible to travel because the road is slippery and muddy. Moreover, if people choose to take one of the two above roads to go to the center of the commune, about 40km, the round trip will take several hours, so people in Chom Mot village have always chosen to travel by boat across the Ma River. The most worrying thing is the students, who still have to cross the river every day to go to school, if they go around, it will take a lot of time. Especially, every time the rainy season and floods come, the children's going to school is very difficult, sometimes they have to miss a whole week of school because of the big floods. Or when someone in the village is sick, giving birth, or needs urgent medical attention, the question of shortening the distance to the medical station is always asked. Not only is it difficult in daily life, but villagers also face many difficulties in production, exchange, and trading goods, which require high transportation costs.

We decided to board a boat of a fish cage farmer, cross the Ma River to Chom Mot village. Showing us two boats lying on the riverbank, Mr. Do Van Hoan, the village party cell secretary, shared: "To help people have a means of crossing the river safely, in 2000, the Red Cross Association of the four provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thai Binh and Ninh Binh (old) gave Chom Mot village two boats. However, each boat can only carry 3-4 people. After the Ba Thuoc Hydropower Plant came into operation, the Ma River water rose, this boat was small so it was not safe and had been at the wharf for many years. In early 2024, after many petitions, the province provided the commune with an iron boat that can carry about 10 people and 1 to 2 motorbikes. The boat is a means of connecting the people of Chom Mot village with the outside. At the same time, it is the hope of the people in trading goods, and the students can go to school on time".

After more than 1 year of use, a serious incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when the boat was carrying 10 students across the Ma River to school. When it was near the shore, the boat lost balance and capsized, the students fell into the water. Fortunately, the boat capsized near the shore so there were no casualties. Immediately after that, the people of Chom Mot village fell into a state of "isolation" because the only boatman in the village with more than 20 years of experience resigned.

It is known that many years ago, at meetings with voters with National Assembly deputies, Provincial People's Council, local authorities and people of Chom Mot village have repeatedly requested that all levels and sectors pay attention to investing in building a bridge across the Ma River to facilitate trade and develop the local economy , so that poverty no longer haunts and children's education does not have to be gambled on ferry trips. However, up to now, the wish for a bridge across the Ma River for the people of Chom Mot village is still just a hope...

Article and photos: Tien Dong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/can-lam-mot-cay-cau-258974.htm