Friday, June 18, 2021, 08:22 (GMT+7)
Coast Guard Zone 2 accompanies fishermen

To successfully fulfil the task of law enforcement in a large sea of the Central Coast Region’s provinces and municipalities, the Coast Guard Zone 2’s Party Committee and Command have always placed emphasis on performing the Zone’s function as “an army ready for work” and particularly effectively implementing the Programme entitled “the Coast Guard accompanies fishermen” as a role model.

Under the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 49-NQ/QUTW, dated January 26th, 2015 and the Resolution 617-NQ/ĐU, dated April 9th, 2015 by the Party Committee of the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) on “enhancing and renewing mass mobilisation in the new situation” as well as the Guidance 427/HD-CT, dated February 10th, 2017 by the VCG’s Political Bureau, the Coast Guard Zone 2’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership and direction on effectively implementing the Programme titled “the Coast Guard accompanies fishermen” (hereafter the Programme). To that end, the Zone’s Party Committee has released a Special Resolution 46-NQ/ĐU, dated March 9th, 2017 on leadership over the Programme in the period of 2017-2020 and beyond together with relevant, proper measures, while establishing organisation committees and sub-committees and assigning specific tasks to each functional office and unit. All-level party committees and commands have stepped up the work of propagation and education to make cadres and soldiers fully understand the goal and significance of the Programme and raise their responsibility for this task. The Zone has directed the Political Office to conduct surveys in 5 island communes and districts. The Programme has been carried out first in An Hai commune (Ly Son island district, Quang Ngai province) to draw lessons for other localities to follow. Due attention has been paid to selecting localities with a large number of high-powered fishing vessels and regions in socio-economic difficulty.

Additionally, the Zone has proactively developed and signed twinning and coordination agreements to execute the Programme with 6 provinces and municipalities in its stationed area. Such documents have been carefully discussed with a consensus between the Zone’s affiliates and local authorities and close cooperation between forces to achieve the effectiveness under higher echelons’ direction and guidance. Besides, it has promoted the role of party committees and commands at all levels in taking measures synchronously to implement the Programme in tandem with the emulation movement of “clever mass mobilisation” and the building of “good mass mobilisation units.”

Giving national flags and leaflets to fishermen of Ly Son island district

To mobilise resources for the Programme, the Zone’s Command has encouraged the participation of politico-social organisations, unions, enterprises, and philanthropists across the country. Up to now, the Zone has conducted the Programme in the island districts of Ly Son (Quang Ngai province) and Con Co (Quang Tri province),Tan Hiep island commune (Cu Lao Cham, Hoi An town, Quang Nam province), and other 8 coastal communes, namely Trieu An (Trieu Phong district) and Vinh Linh (Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province), Tam Quan and Tam Giang (Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province), Binh Dong, Binh Chau, Binh Thuan (Binh Son district) and Nghia An (Quang Ngai city, Quang Ngai province), initially producing good results.

Legal propagation, dissemination and education for fishermen is always at the forefront of the Programme. Hence, the Zone’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership and direction on well carrying out this work. The Zone has considered propagation and consultancy as a central part, while raising citizens and fishermen’s legal knowledge has been seen as its purpose. Emphasis has been placed on legal propagation, dissemination and education for fishermen, ethnic minority people, and religious people living and working at sea, on islands, and in regions in socio-economic difficulty. Consideration has been given to equipping fishermen with basic knowledge of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Law of the Sea of Vietnam, the Law on Fisheries, the Law on Drug Prevention and Combat, the Agreements on the delimitation  and fishery cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin between Vietnam and China, the Party and State’s policies, and the VCG’s function and task. Great value has been attached to renewing methods and forms of propagation in accordance with each group of fishermen and citizens. More specifically, the Zone has carried out direct propagation via rapporteurs, handed out leaflets, deployed teams of propagation under missions, and used speakers on its vessels at sea. On a yearly basis, the Zone’s offices and units have cooperated with schools in the area in organising the knowledge contest about seas and islands for students. They have also collaborated with local party committees and authorities in holding sessions of propagation for thousands of cadres and citizens and distributing hundreds of types of law and emergency management handbooks to hundreds of fishing vessels and fishermen. Doing so has helped raise fishermen’s patriotism and encourage them to take part in protecting the sacred national sovereignty over seas and islands and fighting against negative practices, such as violation of safety regulations and illegal goods trafficking at sea, illegal fishing in other countries’ waters, and destruction of marine environment.

The Zone’s Command has well performed the task of law enforcement at sea as the basis for fishermen’s operation. It has always maintained vessels at sea and on islands to conduct patrols and defend the national sovereignty. As a result, it always opportunely handles situations, especially when foreign ships dispel and strike our fishing vessels and rob our fishermen’s fishing tools. Besides, it has directly encouraged fishermen not to violate other countries’ waters when fishing so that they would not negatively impact on our Party and State’s foreign policy. It could be said that the presence of the Coast Guard has provided a solid foundation for our fishermen’s operation at sea and made contributions to defending the national sovereignty over seas and islands.

Furthermore, the Coast Guard Zone 2 has always been a trustworthy force for fishermen in need. Search, rescue, and safety assurance for fishermen have been seen as a “combat mission in peacetime” and an order from the heart by each cadre and soldier of the Zone, regardless of heavy rains, storms, or harsh weather conditions. The Zone’s Command has always carefully, sufficiently prepared personnel and means and implemented specialised measures to maintain smooth communication with fishermen, particularly in bad weather and opportunely rescue them. It has given emergency numbers and contact frequencies with search and rescue units and observatories to fishermen, while maintaining effective, timely cooperation with other forces in conducting search and rescue operations, mitigating consequences of natural disasters, and responding to incidents at sea, thereby protecting fishermen’s life and property. Between 2019 and 2020, it deployed 5 ships and boats to search and rescue 4 fishing vessels and 7 crew members at sea.

The Zone’s Command has encouraged the people to take part in safeguarding sovereignty, sovereign rights, security, order, and safety at sea and on islands. It has cooperated with local party committees and authorities in realising the Circular 153/2016/TT-BQP, dated September 30th, 2016 by the Ministry of National Defence on mobilising personnel and vessels for the defence of sea and island sovereignty, which has been supported by localities and fishermen. Many fishermen have been committed to using their vessels for protecting the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights at sea. During their operations at sea, each fisherman has acted as a living border marker and an assistant providing information for the Coast Guard’s performance of the task.

The Zone has directed its offices and units to actively participate in consolidating political bases, fostering socio-economic, cultural development, building island communes and districts according to the new-style countryside criteria, and well implementing social welfare policies in their stationed area. They have collaborated with local authorities, sectors, unions, and citizens in building inter-village roads, repairing martyrs’ cemeteries, cleaning up roads and beaches, putting up fences, planting trees, and helping the people with natural disaster prevention and mitigation in the provinces of Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai. Within the Programme, training courses on ensuring safety, providing first aid, and steering vessels in bad weather as well as art performances, sports events, and visits to martyrs’ cemeteries between the Zone and localities have been organised more frequently. To diversify activities of the Programme, the Zone’s Command has worked with enterprises and philanthropists to visit and give presents to families under the preferential treatment policy, poor fishermen and excellent students as well as provide free medical examination and medicine for fishermen, which has been highly appreciated by local authorities. Prior to each voyage, fishermen have been presented with necessary tools, such as national flag, life jacket, buoy, gas cooker, TV, electric oven as an incentive for their participation in protecting the national sovereignty. First-aid handbooks and boxes with specific instructions, national flags on vessel roofs, drinking water, food, and oil provided by the Coast Guard Zone 2 have cemented the close-knit bond between the Military and the people. In 2020, the Zone visited and gave presents to 434 families under the preferential treatment policy, poor fishermen and excellent students, sponsored 12 poor excellent students until they would be 18 years old (1 million VND per month), supplied 2,000 national flags, 70 life jackets, 80 buoys, 15 bicycles, 20 gas tanks, 35 electric ovens, 1 electric generator, 2 TVs, provided free medical treatment and medicine for 210 fishermen, and presented fishermen with 200 first-aid handbooks, 45 first-aid boxes, more than 1,100 hand sanitiser bottles, and 12,000 medical face masks.

With the determination of party committees and commands at all levels, the support from local party committees and authorities, the assistance from organisations, businesses and philanthropists, and the unity and enthusiasm of cadres and soldiers, the Programme has produced significant results to contribute to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” at sea. Happiness of children when they receive assistance to overcome difficulties and national flags flying in the wind at sea will give strong motivations to cadres and soldiers of the Coast Guard Zone 2’s Command to keep more effectively implementing the Programme titled “the Coast Guard accompanies fishermen” and firmly protecting the sacred national sovereignty over seas and islands.

Sr. Col. LE HUY SINH, Commissar of the Coast Guard Zone 2

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