A rural road in Lộc Hiệp Commune in Bình Phước Province’s Lộc Ninh District. The commune was recognised as an advanced new-style rural commune in 2020. — VNA/VNS Photo

BÌNH PHƯỚC — Bình Phước Province is speeding up the acquisition of new-style rural area status under a national programme.

In this mountainous border province in the southeast, nearly 20 per cent of its population belongs to ethnic minorities.

Of its 86 communes, 73 are recognised as new-style rural communes.

To achieve the status, a commune must meet the programme’s 19 criteria related to infrastructure, irrigation, electricity, environment, income, education, healthcare, social security, culture, and others.

The province plans to add five new to the list this year, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

There are two more levels in the programme, advanced and exemplary with higher standards across all criteria, and it plans to add six to the former list to increase it to 33 this year and get its first two exemplary communes.

Phạm Thụy Luân, director of the department, said communes are striving to sustain the standards they have achieved and investing in infrastructure to meet the remaining criteria.

Trần Tuệ Hiền, chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee, said building new-style rural areas has become a widespread movement that has helped improve socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas.

Agriculture has been restructured well and the rural economy has developed significantly, helping improve the lives of people in the countryside, she said.

Improve lives

The province is taking measures and starting movements to increase the number of new-style rural areas and improve the lives of people there.

Its Fatherland Front Committee and other socio-political organisations have implemented a movement called “All people unite to build new-style rural areas and civilised urban areas.”

They have also implemented “Farmers emulate good production and business, and unite to help each other get rich and escape poverty sustainably,” “Farmers emulate to build new-style rural areas and civilised urban areas” and “Bình Phước women say nice words and do good things.”

Trần Văn Minh, chairman of the provincial Farmers Association, said the “Farmers emulate good production and business, and unite to help each other get rich and escape poverty sustainably” movement has thrown up many outstanding farmers.

They are creative and have applied advanced techniques in their production and business, he said.

On July 12, the province honoured 112 farmers for their outstanding achievements in 2023.

People in the province actively participate in the movements and contribute labour, land and money for building infrastructure.

In Bù Gia Mập District’s Đắk Ơ Commune, roads in residential areas are paved with cement or asphalt and planted with flowers.

More than 75 per cent of the commune’s population is ethnic.

Trần Mạnh Toàn, chairman of the commune Fatherland Front Committee, said people in the commune have donated 76,000sq.m of land, thousands of trees and VNĐ732 million (US$29,000) in cash to build roads and other infrastructure.

The commune has donated houses to 114 poor households in the past five years, he said.

It has established self-managing teams to ensure safety in residential areas.

For instance, its Bù Xia Village has a team with 15 volunteers who take turns to work around the clock and have nipped off many cases that could have caused security issues.

Phạm Văn Đạo, a villager, said the team makes people feel secure when they go to work and sleep well at night.

In Lộc Phú Commune in Lộc Ninh District, 30 per cent of the population is ethnic and it used to be extremely disadvantaged before it implemented new-style rural criteria.

It met all 19 criteria last year.

In Vẻ Vang Hamlet, the commune built a water supply site with a borewell in 2022.

Thị Tách, a local, said in the past people had to go to swamps and spring to get water, which was a difficult chore. In the dry season, people had to go very far to get water, she said.

“After the hamlet got the water supply site, people come here to take water and bathe.”

The commune has also implemented many measures to reduce poverty such as providing free seedlings, animals and farming knowledge to farmers.

It is expected to become poverty-free by the end of this year. — VNS