Over the past years, the 16^th Corps has promoted its internal strength and actively taken part in the Movement “the Military joins hands in building new countryside”, thereby contributing to changing the face of rural area and building the posture of “people’s hearts and minds” in the strategic area of Central Highlands.

Stationed in the area of Central Highlands, the 16^th Corps is assigned to boost socio-economic development associated with defence-security consolidation and build economic-defence zones in the area of Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong and Dak Lak provinces. This is a border, isolated, remote area inhabited by many ethnic minorities with the underdeveloped economy while the political security and social order face potential risks of destabilization, particularly hostile forces’ acts of sabotage, illegal migration, missionary work, and border crossing as well as the issues related to rural security. Those have posed challenges to the Corps’ task performance. Grasping the task requirements, the Corps’ Party Committee, Command, cadres, soldiers and workers have strived to overcome all difficulties to attain achievements in economic, military and defence terms. In this regard, due attention has been paid to executing the Movement “the Military joins hands in building new countryside” via synchronous, practical measures, thereby greatly contributing to eradicating hunger and reducing poverty in a sustainable way, improving the people’s material and mental life in the area, and making the defensive zone posture and potential increasingly strong and stable.

To obtain those achievements, first and foremost, the Corps has thoroughly grasped the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, and higher echelons’ directives, plans and guidance on the work of eradicating hunger, reducing poverty and building new-style rural area, particularly the Resolution of the 12^th National Party Congress and the Prime Minister’s Decision on organizing the Movement “the whole country joins hands in building new countryside”. Grounded on those documents, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command have enhanced the work of education to raise its staff’s awareness and responsibility and build up their motive and determination towards this emulation movement. The Corps has advocated that this is a task of routine and importance as well as the sentiment and responsibility of every cadre, soldier and work towards the people in general, ethnic minorities in the area in particular. Thus, it has promoted propagation to make cadres, party members and the people grasp content, criteria and basic requirements of a new-style rural area in order to achieve a sense of unity and encourage all people’s synergy to conduct this important task.

Sr. Col. Ha Duy Tan, on behalf of the Corps’ Party Committee and Command, presents bikes to poor children with good study results in the area

Staying close to the grass-roots level and reality, the Corps has cooperated with localities in developing the action plans, clearly indentifying the area and content of its participation in the building of new countryside, and correctly selecting the models. It has demanded that each company and unit must assist 1 or 2 communes in the stationed area in building new countryside and constructing 1 or 2 useful works or effective models. These targets are not easy for units to fulfil as they are confronted with lots of difficulties. Nevertheless, with their resolve, the Corps’s staff have always “eaten, lived, worked, spoken the ethnic language” with the people, being the vanguard in helping the people with socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and new countryside building; in preventing and combating natural disasters, crime, and acts of sabotage and division of the great national unity block by hostile forces. Reality has shown that the hardest thing is to change the people’s ways of thinking and living as well as their old-fashioned customs. The problem is that only when new models of production prove effective, do ethnic people trust and follow. Therefore, the Corps has determined to persistently follow the road map and take steps gradually.

Importance has been attached to economic development as the basis for building new-style rural areas. To do so, the Corps’ Command has adopted the models of “connectivity” at all levels. According to these models, the Corps is associated with provinces and districts; companies are associated with districts and communes; production teams are associated with villages; Kinh people’s worker households are associated with ethnic people’s worker households. Those models have helped encourage agricultural production and forestry extension as well as assist the people in gradually mastering the procedures for taking care of livestock and crops. As for workers, the Corps has directed companies to complete the projects to execute “piecework in afforestation” so that they could proactively increase the productivity and quality, and save the costs. Worker households and those on piecework have been allowed to take advantage of empty fields to plant overlapping crops in order to increase their income. Thus, in addition to salary paid by their units, workers earn other sources of income from planting other crops. Up to now, no households on the piecework within the Corps live in hunger and poverty. To facilitate production, the Corps has paid special attention to synchronously building the works of electricity, road, school, and clinic, upgrading and constructing over 300km of roads, nearly 200km of medium and low voltage power lines, nearly 80 reservoirs and irrigation works, 40 schools, 62 nursery schools, 6 infirmaries, 1 military-civilian hospital.

Besides economic development, significance has been attached to developing cultural life in residential areas and improving the quality of the people’s life. To that end, the Corps has cooperated with localities in stepping up the Movement “All people unite in building new cultural life in line with the building of units’ healthy cultural environment; in conducting propagation to help the people eliminate depraved customs and social evils as well as building cultural and civilized life; in investing in and assisting the construction of clean water works, waste disposal zones, rural markets meeting the standards in food and environment safety and hygiene. The Corps has assisted and persuaded the people in settling down and preserving local cultural values. It has actively organized exchange, artistic, sport programs to meet locals’ increasing demands for the enjoyment of culture. At the same time, it has taken part in building historical and cultural works, such as Ta Thiet Historical Relic Site and martyrs’ cemeteries, thereby contributing to preserving historical values and promoting national spirit. Besides, due regard has been paid to taking care of the people’s health, effectively executing the Program “the Military joins hands for community health”, and organizing hundreds of teams and groups tasked with epidemic prevention and control and environmental cleaning. While regularly taking care of cadres, troops and locals’ health, medical staff of the Corps’ Hospital 16 and military-civilian infirmaries have been active in providing free medical examination and treatment for the people in remote, isolated areas and revolutionary base areas as well as those under preferential treatment policy (for 56,480 people, worth 5.6 billion VND).

A part from the above-mentioned solutions, great value has been attached to building new countryside in the economic-defence zones. As economic-defence zones, particularly their infrastructure, are constructed by the State’s investments, the building of new countryside here has its particularities. Residential clusters and areas here are connected with the production zones of state farms and factories while production teams are located in localities’ villages. Fully aware that the successful building of new countryside in these areas will bring about diffuse effect on the whole region, the Corps has determined to boost and expand production, attract local workers and construct infrastructure and residential areas at the same time; to persuade ethnic people and locals to work for the Corps. Consideration has been given to transforming workers’ villages and residential areas into models of building new countryside; to striving to satisfy the criteria of defence-security, traffic, health, education and environment in short term. Up to now, the Corps has established 9 economic-defence zones and 56 residential clusters and areas, received and given employment to over 5,500 households (including 1,700 ethnic households) with nearly 25,000 people. To stabilize the people’s life, the Corps has cooperated with localities in reclaiming 5,580 hectares to plant rubber, coffee, pepper and cashew trees; planting and protecting over 10,500 hectares of border belt forest; assigning piecework of industrial crop garden to 3,235 households; giving instructions on farming techniques to these households. As a result, the households taking part in the projects and the Corps’ workers have kept their mind on the production, increasing their income, contributing greatly to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, strengthening the people’s faith in improving their life in the new economic zones.

Furthermore, the Corps has actively participated in and effectively executed the movements, such as “Bringing cultural light to villages”, “Young intellectual volunteers”, “Promoting literacy and popularizing primary education”, and “Gratitude”, thereby contributing to enhancing the quality of education, protecting environment, and effectively implementing social policies. Yearly, many houses built by the Corps’ trade unions and units have been given to the Corps’ staff members. Besides, the Corps has helped many poor households with loans and piecework of crops so that they could handle economic difficulties.

Bringing into play the tradition of 20 years of construction and development, the 16^th Corps’ cadres, soldiers and workers will continue striving to overcome difficulties and fulfil the assigned task. Through the movement on building new countryside, the whole Corps will always unite behind the people against hunger and poverty while unceasingly consolidating defence-security potential and posture, and maintaining political security and social order in the Homeland’s strategic area.

Sr. Col. Ha Huy Tan, Secretary of the Corps’ Party Committee, Deputy Commander of the Corps