President Truong Tan Sang on December 6 visited Tan Lan commune, Can Duoc district, the Mekong Delta province of Long An, where he stated that the promotion of the central role of the people is key to the success of the new-style area building programme.

Tan Lan is one of eight local communes fulfilling all criteria of the programme in 2014, four years ahead of the set target.

Praising local authorities and people for their achievements in new-style rural building, the State leader urged the commune to ensure the quality of the programme, while sharing experience with other localities in the work and keeping regular supervision to detect shortcomings for timely adjustment.

Tan Lan was recognised as a new-style rural commune in July this year. It spent 135 billion VND (6.34 million USD) on the programme, with locals contributing 57 billion VND (2.67 million USD).

According to Nguyen Thi Trinh, Secretary of the communal Party Committee, the programme brought a new face to the commune. Currently, all the locals access to power while 94 percent enjoy clean water.

All roads in the commune have been asphalted, while 24 irrigation cannels have been built. At the same time, three out of the four schools in the locality meet national standards.

The poverty ratio has been reduced to 1.81 percent, with per capita income has raised to 35 million VND per year, said Trinh.

The same day, the State leader visited and presented gifts to heroic mother Huynh Thi Phan in Binh Hoa village and war invalid Pham Van To in Nha Tho village in Tan Lan commune.-VNA