Photo: yenbai.gov.vn
Located next to Thac Ba Lake, Mong Son, half of whose land is submerged, has had problems implementing the national new rural development program. But thanks to the determination of the local government and people, Mong Son’s once-muddy roads are now paved. Nguyen Thi Thuy of Trung Son hamlet said most households there volunteered their land and labor to make new roads: "Acknowledging the program’s importance, all of us were willing to donate our land and labor. Travel has become much more convenient thanks to paved roads."
Mong Son has restructured its animal husbandry and crop cultivation to boost the local economy. Nguyen Van Manh’s family in Lang Can hamlet is better-off, thanks to shifting from rice cultivation and fishing to growing fruit trees. His orchards of red dragon fruit, apple, and pomelo trees earn his family approximately 5000 USD a year. Nguyen Van Manh told VOV: "We hardly made ends meet by fishing. Since we shifted to growing fruit trees, our life has become much better."
Mong Son has succeeded in mobilizing a total of 8.8 million USD to implement the national new rural development program with 15% from the state budget and remainder is from contributions of businesses and local people. Mong Son has completed 17 of the program’s 19 criteria. Nguyen Van Dong is chairman of Mong Son communal People’s Committee: "We’ll speed up efforts to complete the remaining criteria on education and culture by upgrading our local school system and build 2 more cultural houses by the end of this year."