Hanoi (VNA) – Sinh Ton Dong (Sin Cowe East) island, part of Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago, has gone green with great improvements in all fields thanks to the attention from the Party and State as well as efforts of officers and soldiers based on the island.
Located 326 nautical miles from Cam Ranh peninsula and about 15 nautical miles east of Sinh Ton (Sin Cowe) island, Sinh Ton Dong is under the management of Brigade 146, Naval Region 4. The island's surface is covered with crushed coral sand.
Along with a lack of freshwater, the soil and climate conditions in the Sinh Ton Dong island area are harsh and only suitable for a few types of trees such as Bang Vuong (square-fruit Malabar Almond tree), Tamanu, and Sea Water Morning Glory.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyet Ky Hop, Political Commissar of the island, said that officers and soldiers on the island have overcome difficulties and brought about improvements, and actively engaged in search and rescue activities.
Recently, the island has been rebuilt and upgraded, including offices, accommodations and other works to improve the living conditions of officers and soldiers. Wind and solar power systems have also been put into operation on the island.
In March 2017, a FM broadcasting station was installed, while satellite signal receiving stations of Vietnam Television were set up previously, helping officers, soldiers and people on the island to promptly update domestic and world information.
Lieutenant Colonel Hop said that there is a reading room with about 2,300 book titles and more than 30 different newspapers. Particularly, the room has a special shelf for law books. Besides, cultural, art and sports activities have been held regularly, he added.
Military troops on the island have actively engaged in search and rescue activities at sea, considering this as one of their tasks.
Major Nguyen Van Nam, head of the healthcare station of Sinh Ton Dong, said that fishermen operating near the island have received health check-ups, fresh water and vegetables. In 2023 and the first months of 2024, the station provided healthcare services for 64 fishermen from fishing boats in the surrounding waters.
Nam said that the healthcare clinic has enough facilities meeting the basic requirements for surgical operations. In October 2023, there was a surgery performed there on a soldier with appendicitis.
However, he said that the island is facing certain difficulties, especially in preserving equipment due to extreme weather conditions, requiring great efforts to maintain it all.
Nguyen Van Giap, an overseas Vietnamese in Japan, a member of the delegation visiting the island recently, said that after the trip, he will share with the Vietnamese community in Japan his knowledge of Vietnam’s seas and islands.
Giap said he admires the soldiers who stand ready with arms day and night to protect the national sovereignty over remote islands.
He expressed his pride to become a representative of the 600,000-strong Vietnamese community in Japan to join the trip, adding that he clearly understands his responsibility to spread the spirit of protecting the national sovereignty over seas and islands to this community, which is the second largest OV community in the world./.
