10/01/2018
I recently visited a commune in the rural area of the northern delta region. Compared with the previous trip, this time, I saw that the roads had been concretised, the facilities (the commune’s head office, school, clinical centre and meeting house) were upgraded and rebuilt and living conditions had improved for locals. As targeted for 2017, the commune was striving to achieve 19 criteria of the “new-style rural commune” standards. However, as I walked in the commune’s fields and on its roads, it was clear environmental conditions had not improved. Along the main road that connects the upper and bottom areas of the commune, there was an exposed dry ditch 2m wide, 400-500m long and 1m deep. Waste water in the ditch was pitch-black as it came from households raising livestock. In addition, at the edge of the commune was a large area of some 100m2, surrounded by a 0.5m-high wall, where waste was collected. The area was filled with plenty of trash.
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| Collecting wastes |
An environment team was hired to collect trash that was dumped along the way between houses, but the work had not been fully implemented due to several difficulties. People were required to burn the waste, but they could not burn it all, therefore, the waste area was getting filled. In particular, along the canals in the rice and vegetable fields, empty bottles and pesticide containers had been thrown. In addition, no birds could be heard singing in the commune although there were many trees along the roads, as the birds were shot down by the locals.
It is fair to say we have made a lot of achievements after six years of implementing the National Target Programme on New-style Rural Area Development. We have improved awareness of government officials, party members and locals about these issues, mobilised resources and collected ideas from people to strengthen infrastructure, improve the quality of local areas and enhance living conditions of nearly 70% of the country’s population. Thanks to the programme, local authorities, organisations and people have gained more lessons on how to resolve difficulties and challenges, especially with considerable support from the Government.
However, during the implementation of the programme, there have been some issues that need fixing. On October 17, 2016, the Prime Minister issued Decision 1980/QD-TTg on the national standards of new-style rural commune for the 2016 - 20 period to amend the standards stated in Decision 49/QD-TTg, issued by the Prime Minister on April 16, 2009. In the latest set of standards, several criteria have been adjusted. The number of criteria on environmental protection has been raised from 5 to 8, including food safety, toilet and bathroom, clean water tank and environmental protection in animal husbandry. The latest set of standards also stresses on some issues such as the percentage of households using regulated clean water. The amendment of environmental protection standards for the development of new-style rural areas proves (1) environmental protection is of importance for the programme; (2) environmental protection criteria vary among communes, districts and provinces as circumstances can change during the development of local areas (industrial zones, handicraft villages, climate change, natural disasters, floods); (3) the Government has paid more attention to environmental protection in the development of new-style rural areas; (4) some updated standards require locals to raise their awareness about production, trading and daily living activities; (5) environmental protection becomes socialised, being able to mobilise resources from political-social organisations and enhancing supervision among local community, organisations, officials, people and party members.
When mentioning environmental protection in new-style rural area development, some people say environmental issues should be resolved by the Government and community, and they are not their concern. Till now, not everyone had realised we are breathing the same air, which is the basic need of every human being. Water, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and underground water are valuable natural resources for every family and individual. Some households have no standardised toilets or the land is covered with pesticide, becoming a source of toxicants and waste, leading to diseases, especially cancer. Despite the Government having added new criteria to the standards of new-style rural area development, some criteria are proved to be qualitative only and not quantitative, such as the percentage of clean water; the percentage of collected waste; the percentage of socialised resources raised for environmental protection; processing wastes in animal husbandry and fishery; collecting and processing pesticide packages; and imposing sanctions on businesses that cause environmental pollution. If localities focus only on achievements or are goal-oriented in building NTM, without taking into account specific development criteria, particularly environment ones, failure is almost certain.
It is difficult for the local community to achieve new-style rural area standards. Awareness of locals is the key, but without deep, profound and inactive acknowledgement to reach the goals in a sustainable way, the work would be undone. If it is quite easy for the local community to meet standards on environmental protection in production, consumption, daily life activities; it is also hard for local authorities and regulators to monitor and supervise implementation and maintenance of the standards. The world market is huge and has a variety of products that are not registered with origin and food safety certificates, and these products will be boycotted. The European Union on October 23, 2017, issued a warning (yellow card) for Vietnamese seafood products as Việt Nam had not put in its best efforts to fight illegal fishing. If Việt Nam fails to improve the situation, its seafood products will be banned from being exported to the EU market. This is a lesson for the Government. Therefore, raising awareness of the local community on living in harmony with nature and protecting rural areas and the nation’s traditional culture and activities are of importance for developing new-style rural areas and preserving Vietnamese culture for future generations.
Environmental issues exist in all aspects of society. It is hard for the local community and people to entirely achieve the standards for development of new-style rural areas as they are required to show long-term commitment and best efforts. Thus, for new-style rural area development in particular and society development in general, if the environment is well protected, it will be easy for locals to see great results and achievements.
Vũ Ngọc Lân
