Citing Ta Lo San village (in Sen Thuong commune, Muong Nhe district), Ms. Giang Thi Hoa, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Council of Dien Bien province, stated: The entire Ta Lo San village has only more than a dozen families, all of whom are ethnic minorities. Since 2009, 13 families have voluntarily left their old village to settle down and establish Ta Lo San village.

Up to now, although it has been established for 16 years, the village is still one of the most disadvantaged in the commune. The road from Ta Lo San to the commune is more than 40km long, it is a rough, graded road; the village currently does not have national grid electricity...

Because of the distance from the commune center and the district center, the geographical conditions are especially isolated, so with the merger of Sin Thau, Sen Thuong and Leng Su Sin communes to establish Sin Thau commune, with the headquarters planned to be located at the headquarters of Leng Su Sin commune (currently), the road from Ta Lo San village to the new commune is even further away.

Border guards of Sen Thuong Border Post visit and give gifts to the poor in Ta Lo San village.

Similar to the merger of three communes Xa Nhe, Muong Dun (Tua Chua district) and Phinh Sang (Tuan Giao district) to establish a new commune named Sang Nhe, with the headquarters planned to be located in Xa Nhe commune (currently), most of the villages in Phinh Sang commune (old) are more than ten kilometers from the center of the new commune; some villages are more than 30km away.

"Currently, the villages are already facing many difficulties before they are merged into the commune. When they are merged into the new commune, we can all see the immediate difficulties for these villages, which are geographical distance and traffic infrastructure. Therefore, as soon as the commune merger is completed, there needs to be a comprehensive review to develop a roadmap and specific goals for these disadvantaged villages," Ms. Giang Thi Hoa suggested.

Delegate Cao Thi Tuyet Lan (Dien Bien district) expressed concern that the merger of communes will add many remote villages.

Sharing the same opinion with Ms. Giang Thi Hoa, Secretary of Dien Bien District Party Committee Cao Thi Tuyet Lan also mentioned: Currently, Pung Bua village in Na U commune is far from the commune center and very difficult, so when Na U and Pom Lot commune merge into Sam Mun commune to establish a new commune named Sam Mun and the headquarters is expected to be located at Pom Lot commune headquarters (currently), it will take more than 35km from Pung Bua village to the commune center.

Similarly, with Muong Nha and Na Tong communes in Dien Bien district, there are currently many villages far from the commune center, and the roads are not convenient, so adjusting to merge into new communes with a longer distance will be difficult for the people.

Receiving the opinions of delegates at the meeting, comrade Le Thanh Do, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized that arranging administrative units according to the 2-level local government model is truly a revolution.

Although it was implemented in a short time, in the spirit of "running and queuing at the same time", during the process of building the merger plan, the Provincial People's Committee always directed all sectors and levels to strictly grasp the viewpoint of arranging administrative units to ensure the following criteria: geo-economics; geo-politics, history, tradition, culture-ethnicity and national defense-security. After the arrangement, new development space must be created for the commune and the whole region.

Comrade Le Thanh Do, Chairman of Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee, answered questions that delegates still had concerns about.

Regarding the draft Project on rearranging commune-level administrative units according to the plan to reduce from 129 commune-level administrative units to 45 units that the Provincial People's Committee presented at this meeting, comrade Le Thanh Do affirmed that it has been implemented in accordance with the correct steps and procedures.

During the process of drafting and collecting voters' opinions at each level, the drafting committee received many voters' opinions and reviewed, evaluated, and adjusted them. For example, with the draft to merge 3 communes: Sin Chai, Ta Sin Thang, Lao Xa Phinh to establish Sin Chai commune, the headquarters was expected to be located in Lao Xa Phinh commune (currently), but after receiving the opinions of voters of Tua Chua district, the drafting committee accepted the adjustment to choose the headquarters of Sin Chai commune (new) to be located in Ta Sin Thang commune.

Or like the initial draft submitted for voters' opinions was to merge three communes: Xa Nhe, Muong Dun (Tua Chua district) and Phinh Sang commune (Tuan Giao district) to establish a new commune named Xa Nhe, but as soon as receiving voters' opinions suggesting to name the new commune Sang Nhe to match the national cultural identity, the Drafting Committee and the Provincial People's Committee immediately accepted the adjustment.

Affirming further the requirements set forth in the project of merging and reorganizing commune-level administrative units in Dien Bien province, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bien province stated: In addition to the requirements of optimizing the administrative apparatus, increasing development resources... in the process of developing the project, the People's Committee of the province always attaches importance to the requirement of merging in accordance with practical requirements, while facilitating the promotion of local potential and strengths and in accordance with the cultural traditions of ethnic groups.

However, the reality of reducing from 129 commune-level administrative units to 45 units inevitably brings difficulties and changes to the people of some villages and some old areas. Currently, we have recognized the advantages and difficulties of each commune after the merger and the establishment of the office, but for the common development and the most convenience for the people, the Project presented to the council delegates has chosen the most optimal and most convenient option.

Along with explaining the process of developing the Draft and specific evidence in receiving and editing the content of the Draft Project on rearranging and reorganizing commune-level administrative units, Chairman Le Thanh Do clearly stated that existing difficulties or new difficulties arising after the merger (traffic, workplaces) will continue to be reviewed by the province to find solutions and plans to remove them, creating motivation for communes to operate effectively and meet people's expectations.

Therefore, after the merger, although many villages will be further away from the commune, voters and people of Dien Bien can always rest assured and trust that even difficult matters will always be promptly resolved...

Staff of the Working Group in Ta Lo San village guide people to implement forest protection measures.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/dien-bien-tao-dieu-kien-thuan-loi-toi-da-cho-nguoi-dan-trong-qua-trinh-sap-nhap-xa-post875987.html