BẮC GIANG — The northern province of Bắc Giang has concreted more than 4,000km of road in rural areas in the past two years.

Funding for the work came from the provincial budget and local people.

Ngô Quang Ngơn, who lives in Giành Cũ Village, Quý Sơn Commune, Lục Ngạn District, said that earlier, roads in the area were narrow, just more than 2m wide and slippery.

In harvest season, farmers struggled to transport their products.

Then Quý Sơn People’s Committee announced it would provide cement, and local residents agreed to help concrete the roads. Now roads in the village are about 4m in width and easy to travel on.

Nguyễn Văn Hải, head of the Lục Ngạn Economy and Infrastructure Division, said during the past two years, people in Lục Ngạn District had contributed about VNĐ300 billion (US$13,000) and donated more than 78,120sq.m of land to widen roads.

The campaign is not only seen in Lục Ngạn District, but also other districts like Lạng Giang, Yên Thế, Hiệp Hòa and Việt Yên.

Nguyễn Văn Sỹ, deputy chairman of the Lạng Giang District People’s Committee, said if a road was about 3.5-4m in width the committee would provide VNĐ100 million ($4,300) per kilometre. If a road was about 4.5m or more in width, the committee would offer VNĐ200 million ($8,600) per kilometre.  

The repaired roads play an important role in developing the economy in the area, he said.

Hoàng Văn Thanh, deputy director of the Bắc Giang Department of Transport, said the roads also helped reduce traffic accidents.

Statistics of the provincial traffic safety committee showed that in the first nine months this year, traffic accidents in the province reduced in terms of the number of incidents, deaths and injuries.

Total funding for concreting roads in rural areas in Bắc Giang Province in the past two years was more than VNĐ2.4 trillion ($104.7 million). Nearly half of the funds were contributed by local residents including their land and working days to repair the roads. The remaining was from provincial, district and communal budgets. — VNS