Mobilizing resources according to the Rural Transport Development Project for the 2021-2025 period in conjunction with 3 National Target Programs (NTPs): Sustainable Poverty Reduction; New Rural Development. From here, the "land donation" movement has inspired the people of Ky Anh district (Ha Tinh) to break through to the new rural area (NTM) finish line.

Veterans cut down their houses to donate land to make way for the road.

Donating land and property to build new rural infrastructure has become a normal practice for many people in Ha Tinh.

However, the story of veteran - Village Chief Hoang Dinh Lam in Phu Hai village, Ky Phu commune (Ky Anh, Ha Tinh) cutting down part of his family's main house to give land to the commune to expand the road, moved people in Ky Anh district.

His ground-floor house, located less than 1 meter from the (old) road, had to be cut down by about 1.5 meters wide, running along a length of over ten meters. Along with that, nearly 100 square meters of garden land was also donated by the family to open the road.

Mr. Lam shared: “There are few people in the house, and there are not many people living there. I have to endure the small space, but I get a lot in return: first, there is enough land for the commune to build roads, second, as a village cadre, I should take the lead, do it first, then I can propagate and mobilize the people…”.

When asked about how he communicated and persuaded his “family” to gain consensus for his bold decision, he shared: “At first, I encountered hesitation and concern from my wife and children, but the good thing is that everyone believed in my thinking and respected my decision; on the other hand, everyone in the family also understood and strongly supported the policy of building a new rural area in the village and commune. Therefore, everything went smoothly in the end.”

The main road of the commune runs through Phu Hai village to Ky Phu beach, 400m long, only 3m wide; there are 23 households on the road. To ensure the width of the road and corridor of 9m, the families on both sides of the road must retreat 2-3m.

Being a coastal area with limited land and high land prices, to open up the minds and awareness of the people is not a simple process. However, through persistent propaganda and mobilization, especially after the village chief took the lead in donating land and cutting off part of his house, things changed quickly and clearly.

Without being told, families followed the newly placed road markers to tear down fences, solid gates and any other structures on the land reserved for the road, and then proceeded to rebuild.

Next to Mr. Lam's house, Mr. Tran Van Tuan's family also gave up their land to the commune to open a road. He voluntarily demolished it and moved it back with a width of more than 2m and a length of 13m.

“Who wouldn’t be sorry to have to abandon so much valuable land and constructions, and spend more effort and money to rebuild them? However, for the common policy of the locality, we are willing to contribute. Village chief Lam took the lead in donating part of his house, and we, the people, just followed suit for the common good,” said Tran Van Tuan.

The 'revolution' of donating 'an inch of land - an inch of gold'

The story of people donating land to open roads in Ky Xuan, Ky Phu, Ky Dong, Ky Thuong communes, etc. is likened to a "revolution" that changed village traffic.

Hundreds of households on inter-village and intra-village roads, alleys, and residential areas volunteered to donate land to widen the road surface so that cars could easily avoid each other on village roads, with drainage ditches, and clean, beautiful alleys.

Mr. Nguyen Kien Quyet, Chairman of Ky Phu Commune People's Committee said: With the drastic leadership and direction, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and mass organizations have strengthened propaganda and mobilized the people, and with the enthusiastic participation and response of the people, Ky Phu commune has built 8/8 villages that meet the standards of model residential areas.

In 2019, Ky Phu commune built 2 model residential areas (Phu Loi, Phu Son) to meet the standards; in 2020, it built 5 model residential areas (Phu Minh, Phu Long, Phu Thuong, Phu Trung, Phu Tan) to meet the standards; in 2021, it built 1 model residential area to meet the standards. With a total construction cost of more than 15 billion VND, of which more than 11 billion VND is contributed by individuals and organizations, and socialization.

The emulation movement to donate land to open roads spread widely, thousands of square meters of land, trees, and crops were donated by people and hundreds of thousands of working days were contributed to build and repair rural roads, especially roads in remote, sparsely populated communes such as Ky Thuong, Ky Son, and Lam Hop.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Ngoc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son commune, shared that recently, with the support resources of the State and the joint efforts of the people, the implementation of rural traffic construction in Ky Son has achieved many important results.

Up to now, the basic transportation system ensures connection between villages with more than 40 km of concrete roads. To complete this workload, the commune has mobilized more than 22 billion VND, of which the people contributed more than 16 billion VND; received more than 5,700 tons of cement...

Regarding the inter-district road system, out of 9 routes, with a total length of more than 63 km, there are currently 7 routes, with a length of 46.6 km, that have been invested to meet standards, with the asphalt and concrete ratio reaching 100%.

The remaining routes need large resources, Ky Anh has sought support from superiors, including some routes in the medium-term public investment program from the central and provincial budgets.

Along with the traffic criteria, the centralized clean water criteria has also been "solved" by speeding up the progress of centralized water supply projects in Lam Hop commune and surrounding areas, with a total investment of 40 billion VND; in Ky Lac commune, with a total investment of 13 billion VND.

At the same time, expand the water supply network from the Ky Anh Town Water Plant system to the communes of Ky Tho, Ky Tan, Ky Van and complete the procedures for selecting investors, approving the investment policy for the Ky Dong Water Plant project and surrounding areas.

According to calculations, with the projects being implemented in the area, the centralized clean water criteria of Ky Anh district will reach 24% by 2024.