Lai Chau supports sustainable poverty alleviation

Lai Chau (VNA) - The north-western mountainous province of Lai Chau has implemented various measures to boost local living standards in line with the provincial Party Committee’s resolution on sustainable poverty alleviation for 2016 – 2020.

The resolution includes support policies to encourage agro-forestry-fishery development and technology use in agricultural production.

Between 2016 and 2018, Lai Chau has provided 53,000 households with more than 86 billion VND (3.7 million USD) worth of saplings, animal breeding, fertiliser and pesticides. More than 72,000 families have taken charge of protecting more than 296,000 hectares of forests, while 36,000 poor and near poor households have received loans.

Giang A Tinh, Vice Chairman of the Lai Chau People’s Committee, said the province has allocated a large amount of funding for districts with high poverty rate and a number of border communes. The financial assistance came from not only the provincial authorities but also individuals, organisations and businesses.

Vocational training has been prioritised, particularly in the farming, garment-textiles and electricity sectors. As of November 2018, Lai Chau had created jobs for nearly 21,000 people and sent 276 others to work overseas.

During 2016-2018, the province has invested in improving infrastructure in poor areas, including the building of rural roads, irrigation systems, school facilities, health centres and a FM radio station, to help residents better access educational and health services, information and clean water.

To date, 1,030 of 1,169 local villages have roads suitable for motorbikes and 92 percent of households have access to electricity from the national grid.

In reviewed period, the rate of poor and near poor households annually decreased by 4.95 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively, meaning 12,000 families escaped poverty.-VNA