If we respond more flexibly, this highland commune will be bustling and promising to be vibrant with "centipede" services, when legal regulations are complete, when big investors enter the "game" of rural tourism, especially in the two lakes of Ham Thuan and Da Mi.

We are wrong and need to be guided to do right.

If you follow Highway 55 through Da Mi commune, you will see bustling commerce and services on both sides of the road. From coffee shops, rest stops to restaurants, sightseeing spots and even homestays. In places with beautiful scenery that visitors often visit, even on the surface of Da Mi and Ham Thuan lakes, there are temporary houses, fishing huts... so it is not strange that on the ground, in convenient places, people pitch tents, buy a few chairs, a table for visitors to sit. The makeshift construction, even precarious, especially in undulating areas with steep hills, adds to the wildness, creating a unique beauty of this highland tourism. However, through learning from the owners of these services, they said that this land is agricultural land that the family reclaimed since Da Mi commune was first established or transferred by hand. That means, the above constructions to serve the wave of tourists coming in 2023 are against the law.

“We were wrong because we were doing tourism services on agricultural land. But if we applied to change the purpose to commercial service land, it would not be possible, and even if we did, it would not be in time when there are many visitors coming to the commune,” said the owner of a coffee shop near Ham Thuan Lake in Da Tro village. At the same time, he said that according to the Decision approving the planning task for the construction of Ham Thuan Lake tourist area, his house and many other houses near the lake have been planned for commercial and service land. This is an opportunity for the people here to change the purpose of land use to expand their business and services to be larger, more systematic and proper to serve tourists, especially when they come in large groups. And most of all, they must do business in accordance with the law. “I heard that the ministries of agriculture and rural development, natural resources and environment will have guidelines for tourism on agricultural land and forest land. We want to be guided on how to do business properly, but as it is now, we are very nervous, because today we hear that we have to dismantle, and tomorrow they ask for it to be dismantled! But if the whole village is like that, what will happen to Da Mi when visitors come?”

In such a spontaneous wave in this highland area, it is even more understandable why the investor of the Lake On The Mountain tourist site in Dagury village boldly built a facility with such a beautiful lakeside view. After the April 30 holiday, the press wrote an article about this facility encroaching on the surface of the Da Mi hydroelectric lake. When the inspection team of Ham Thuan Bac district arrived, everyone acknowledged that the appearance of the stilt house architecture on the water surface at the waist of Da Mi lake created a very attractive sightseeing and cloud hunting spot for tourists. But unfortunately, why didn't they ask the district for specific instructions when doing it? Mr. Do Van Loc, the owner of this spontaneous establishment, said that many people in the commune also built restaurants, cafes... on agricultural land, so he also built the establishment on the agricultural land where his family has lived since 1996. However, because the land adjacent to the water surface of Da Mi Lake was "drunk" serving the needs of tourists and he also saw people building temporary houses on the lake, he encroached on the lake surface to make temporary seating for guests with wooden poles propped up in the lake.

“I was wrong, but I want to be guided to rent the water surface like people rent to raise sturgeon, to do tourism right here. Because the small area of ​​Da Mi Lake in this water channel does not affect the production water flow of the factory. Because I do tourism to welcome guests, I also clean up the trash and trees in the lake that often flow to this water channel, making the scenery here more beautiful, creating a place for local people to sell agricultural products and for tourists from other places to have a place to rest” – Mr. Loc suggested when the inspection team emphasized that Da Mi Lake is an energy land. But if anyone is interested in socio-economic development, especially tourism for the potential Da Mi area, they must also think about how to solve the above suggestion.

If dismantled, Da Mi will return to an agricultural commune.

That is the concern of Chairman of Da Mi Commune People's Committee Nguyen Anh Toan, who has worked in Da Mi Commune since the early stages of its establishment, so he knows that the development of the commune has its own characteristics. According to Mr. Toan, the story of people adapting quickly to switching to tourism, welcoming visitors since the highway was built is one step ahead in the management work of the government, so it is a spontaneous frustration. Management work has not kept up with that, most clearly shown in land. Da Mi has a natural land area of ​​13,838.81 hectares, of which Ham Thuan - Da Mi Protective Forest Management Board, Da Nhim - Ham Thuan - Da Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Company and Da Mi Commune People's Committee directly manage a total area of ​​12,584.3 hectares. The remaining 1,293.17 hectares, most of which are agricultural land currently used by people, traffic land, river, canal, stream, etc. land, in addition to the planning of 3 types of forests, have not been assigned to local management to consider granting land use right certificates to people.

Meanwhile, the land area that has been clearly assigned to the People's Committee of the commune for management with a total area of ​​1,803.8 hectares of land for consideration of granting land use right certificates to the people according to 4 decisions of the People's Committee of Binh Thuan province has not been able to be implemented smoothly. Currently, the area for granting certificates in the commune accounts for only 10% of the total area above. The reason is that the plan for granting land use right certificates is not suitable for the actual situation in the locality, because the regulation stipulates that the subjects assigned agricultural land are people with permanent residence in the locality and the land allocation limit is 1.5 hectares; outside this area, households must rent land. All households do not agree, so they do not file land rental applications. Therefore, it causes difficulties for local land management, limiting people's investment in production...

At present, tourists are familiar with the routes and tours, so they keep coming. People have discovered that tourism services are more convenient than agriculture, and moreover, they stimulate the sale of agricultural products at high prices, so they cannot stop. Therefore, the above violations will continue. If the government tightens and resolutely dismantles, Da Mi will become an agricultural commune just like the years when it was first established, with tourists running to and from there without a place to rest, drink water, sightsee, or buy durian? If the response is more flexible, this highland commune will be bustling and promises to be vibrant with "centipede" services, when legal regulations are complete, when big investors enter the "game" of rural tourism, especially at the two lakes of Ham Thuan and Da Mi. However, in the eyes of tourism investors, tourists often like to have a lake view, a path leading to the lake to satisfy all their entertainment needs, not just stopping at taking tourists to the islands to visit fruit gardens. Therefore, the need to lease water surface (which is currently energy land) to make tourism more attractive becomes a desire.

Therefore, in August, Ham Thuan Bac district had a working session with the leaders of Da Nhim - Ham Thuan - Da Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Company, the unit managing 2 lakes with an area of ​​1,599.23 hectares in Da Mi commune, to find a direction for Da Mi tourism development...

Lesson 1: The highlands call

Lesson 3: The side that does nothing, the side that desires