Soc Trang province improves lives of ethnic people

Soc Trang (VNS/VNA) - The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Soc Trang has taken various measures to develop the areas where ethnic people live and improve their lives.

Ly Rotha, head of the province's Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said the province has had 64 of its 80 communes recognised as new-style rural communes under the country’s programme on building new-style rural areas. Of the 64, 31 are ethnic people communes, he said.

Ethnic people, mostly Khmer people, account for 35% of the province’s population.

The province has the largest number of Khmers in the delta, with 28% of its population being Khmer people.

It is using 790 billion VND (33.5 million USD) to implement the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in 2021-2025.

Last year, the programme built 63 projects for rural areas, including 48 roads, 11 bridges, one community house and three markets.

Tran De district, where ethnic people make up more than 50% of its population, has spent more than 9 billion VND (380,000 USD) to implement 10 rural transport projects in living areas of ethnic people since 2021.

Tang Thi Sol, an ethnic woman in Bung Triet hamlet in Tran De’s Lieu Tu commune, said that previously the old Ta Oc bridge was narrow and deteriorated, did not secure travel safety and had been rebuilt.

“The new bridge is wide and secures travel safety, especially for transporting agricultural products in Bung Triet and neighbouring hamlets, and people here are glad,” she said.

The district has supported ethnic people to find jobs and provided them household utensils such as water containers.

Phan Thi Tam in Lieu Tu commune has been given a 2,000 litre container for storing clean water. Previously, she stored clean water for household use in pots which could only store water enough for her family use for one or two days.

“The 2,000 litre container provides more water. It has a lid which helps prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs,” she said.

Last year, the province provided clean water for 267 households, housing land for 213 households, houses for 623 families and farming land for 230 households.

All poor and near poor ethnic people in the province are provided free health cards.

Up to 97.5% of ethnic households can access hygienic water.

Rotha, head of the province’s Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province will focus on investing in socio-economic development in areas of Khmer people and reduce poverty rapidly and sustainably.

It will provide housing and farming lands and supply clean water for nearly 4,500 households at a total cost of 176 billion VND (7.5 million USD) to serve the production and lives of ethnic people by 2025, he said.

It will develop ethnic boarding schools and schools which have a large number of ethnic students, and buy equipment for teaching ethnic students, he said.

It will preserve the culture of ethnic minorities, invest in television and radio systems and apply information technology for socio-economic development in ethnic people areas, he said.

The province plans to increase the average income of ethnic people to 70 million VND (3,000 USD) per person a year by 2025.

It has a total of 15,139 poor households as of the end of last year, including 7,122 Khmer households and 345 Hoa households.

The number of poor Khmer households accounted for 7.1% of the province’s Khmer households last year, down by 3% against 2021.

The province aims for all communes, wards and towns to have paved roads for car travel to their centres and up to 90% of roads in hamlets and villages paved with cement or asphalt.

It also aims for 99% of ethnic households to access national power grids and other power supply sources.

The province has focused on preserving the cultures and traditional values of ethnic minorities.

In April, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism began drafting up a plan of preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in combination with developing tourism for this year.

Under the plan, the province’s Museum, in cooperation with relevant agencies of districts, towns and Soc Trang city, will survey and collect musical instruments, items related to traditional crafts and food, and households utensils of Khmer and Hoa ethnic people.

Tran Minh Ly, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the department has implemented the plan since 2021 and will continue to implement it well.

It will continue repairing hamlet-level cultural houses which are deteriorated, he said.

In the first half of the year, the province has organised 36 art performances at 12 places in rural, remote and ethnic people-inhabited areas, attracting the view of 36,000 people./.