Thursday, August 23, 2018, 13:54 (GMT+7)
Military Region No.1’s experience in building green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks

Clearly acknowledging the importance and role of the barracks work in building regularity and comprehensively strong units, over the past years, the Party Committee and the High Command of the Military Region (MR) No.1 have focused on leading and directing this work with a number of appropriate and creative measures. In particular, attention has been paid to promoting the movement of "Building and managing green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks".

With efforts and strong determination of Party committees, commanders at all levels, the unity of awareness and actions among officers and soldiers, despite a number of difficulties due to complicated terrain, hard weather, downgraded facilities, and limited funding…, the MR has successfully accomplished its objectives on barracks upgrading, making considerable changes in appearance of its units. So far, the MR has basically completed the master plan of barracks building and strictly managed and used defense land. Most of the units have been spacious, clean and beautiful ones, the living conditions of the soldiers have been considerably improved. In doing so, there are lessons withdrawn as follows.

Firstly, to enhance the leadership of Party committees and commanders at all levels over the barracks work, focusing on the emulation movement "Building and managing green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks." This is the issue of primary importance to the outcomes of the movement and the barracks work. Accordingly, the MR’s Logistics Department has adhered to localities and units’ realities to counsel the MR’s Command to thoroughly implement the Directive 05 / CT-BQP, dated March 06th, 2012 of the Ministry of National Defense on continuing to promote the emulation movement of "Building and managing green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks" at all levels. At the same time, the MR Command has directed the agencies and units to attach importance to leading the barracks work; considering it an important element in building comprehensively strong units. In order to meet the purpose and requirements of building green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks, the MR has ordered its units to bring into play the synergy of organizations, forces, and movements; to attach the targets of the movement with the roadmap for the implementation of Resolution No. 623-NQ / QUTW of the Central Military Commission on "Military Logistics tasks to the year 2020 and the subsequent years”. The planning at each level has focused on concretizing the 6 contents of the movement "Building and managing green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks"; making it relevant to allocated funding, type of units, and characteristics of the areas. At the same time, attention has been paid to intensifying propaganda and education, aiming at raising awareness, creating consensus and heightening the sense of responsibility for units at all levels.

Viet Yen district military command’s barracks (Bac Giang province)

Secondly, to promote the key role of MR’s Logistics Department, directly the barracks work branch at all levels in counseling, guiding and organizing the implementation. On the basis of the MR’s plan and contents of "Building and managing the green, clean, beautiful, and regular barracks" for each year and period, the logistics agencies, directly the barracks work branches at all levels, have concretized them into specific targets, in line with the different types of barracks for the regular forces, local military agencies, etc,. At the same time, they have directed and guided the movement with focus on making breakthroughs in overcoming weak points. In particular, in 2013, based on the situation of barracks, the MR added the “bright” criteria to the emulation movement, changing it from "green, clean, and beautiful" to "bright, green, clean, and beautiful."

The MR’s barracks work branch has closely followed the direction of the senior levels, instructing localities and units to focus on completing the master plan of the barracks, ensuring a reasonable and clear functioning area, creating synchronism and science in training and daily activities of each agency and unit. At the same time, the MR has actively reviewed land data with grassroots units and localities; cooperating with localities in conducting the work of measurement, demarcation, and land marking, speeding up the granting of land use right certificates to units. To date, 437/494 military establishments of the MR have been granted land use right certificates, creating a solid foundation for the management of defense land in accordance with the regulations of law.

In order to improve the living conditions of soldiers, the MR’s logistics sector has counseled and directed emulation movements in construction and management of barracks. Agencies and units have strictly implemented the procedures for basic construction investment; actively carried out the approved barracks projects; strengthened the management of investment, construction quality, and prevented waste, etc. As a result, the projects have been in accordance with planning, technical design, and schedule. The task of the MR’s barracks management has been innovated. The Logistics Department has instructed the agencies, units to review, inventory and classify the quality of barracks and used the results for developing medium-term and long-term maintenance and construction plans.

The task of managing, ensuring, and using electricity and water, maintaining the environmental sanitation of the MR has witnessed positive changes. Agencies and units have proactively balanced the funding sources for upgrading the low-voltage power transmission lines, investing in the construction of water supply facilities to ensure fresh water supply for soldiers, especially in places where water sources are limited. For years, the MR has always strictly followed the regulations on saving electricity. In the period 2012 - 2017, the MR saved more than 1.2 million kWh of electricity and tens of billions of VND of daily usage water. Along with that, the work of sanitation and environment protection has always been the focus, aiming at creating and maintaining a clean and beautiful appearance for units.

Thirdly, to actively mobilize different resources to build and maintain the barracks. This is an important measure to help resolve the contradiction between the limited annual funding source and the huge demand for building, upgrading and repairing barracks and facilities of the Military Region. On the one hand, the MR has ordered its units to manage and efficiently use the allocated funding; on the other hand, it has promoted the self-reliant spirit and the internal strength, mobilizing the labor work from the soldiers during their free time, and especially the assistance from local Party committees and authorities to reinforce barracks. To do so, every two years, the Logistics Department has held a competition on "building and managing green, clean, beautiful and regular barracks" at regimental level and district military command level. This is the basis for the units to mobilize all resources, promote synergy to build and maintain the barracks in order to participate in the competition.

Therefore, there has been a breakthrough in building and upgrading barracks and improving environment. Promoting the recorded achievements, the Military Region is instructing the units to prepare a similar competition for military training schools of 6 provinces in 2019. The agencies and units have been active in mobilizing the skills and work force of the staff and soldiers, making use of available equipment to reinforce and upgrade the barracks, building yards, internal roads, and flower gardens, etc. Since 2012, the MR has mobilized nearly 430,000 working days of the soldiers and over 1,085 billion VND mainly from local budgets to build 31 new buildings and upgrade 17 others, plant nearly 300,000 trees of all kinds, cover more than 340,000 square meters of land with grass, etc., creating a really bright, green, clean and beautiful appearance for units in the Military Region.

The above mentioned experience and measures will be adopted by the Military Region No.1 in the coming time, aiming at bringing the movement of "Building and managing green, clean, beautiful and regular barracks" into depth, creating a motive force in improving the quality and effectiveness of the barracks work, contributing to the building of a comprehensively strong Military Region to successfully fulfill all assigned tasks.

Senior Col. Pham Manh Cuong, Chief of the MR’s Logistics Department

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