PM wants better life for minorities
Viet Nam News, April 21, 2003
TAY NGUYEN — Prime Minister Phan Van Khai told leaders from the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces of Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Dac Lac that improving the living standards of minority peoples is their most important task for future years.
The prime minister made the observation last week during his tour of the highland region.
PM Khai asked the three provinces to consolidate the political system at grassroots level, help people improve their intellectual standards, and develop skills and knowledge among minority communities.
In Kon Tum Province, he said that the province needed to complete the construction of accessible roads to remote areas next year, and address the lack of farmland for minority households.
Khai acknowledged that the province’s market-oriented economic restructuring had made slow process, while unplanned production expansions were continuing.
He added that the province had not done enough to tap the potential of its forests and building materials. Education and healthcare services, especially in remote areas, remained far below the national average, while rampant deforestation is taking a heavy toll on the environment, the prime minister said.
According to the province’s socio-economic report, Kon Tum province has maintained a high average growth rate of 9.6 per cent over the past decade. The rate peaked at 13.5 per cent in 2000, was 11.9 per cent in 2001 and 11 per cent in 2002.
The province’s annual per capita income was US$205 and average food share 241kg per person.
The rate of poor households in the province reduced to 22.29 per cent last year, down from 27.9 per cent in 2001. Population growth also dropped from 2.48 per cent to 2.34 per cent in the same period.
The prime minister called at several villages of the Ba Na ethnicity, as well as some economic establishments including the military-run Corporation No.15.
PM Khai urged Gia Lai provincial leaders to accelerate economic reforms, plant crops on barren hills, and build irrigation systems to reduce the impact of prolonged droughts.
He said that special attention should be paid to bridging the gap between rich and poor, and warned the province to avoid economically unviable schemes.
The province should allocate forest land to people and mete out strict punishment for forest destruction, Khai said, adding that local leaders must bear full responsibility for their poor management in these areas to date.
The prime minister noted that the province had made some achievements despite many difficulties. In the first quarter of this year, local farmers planted winter-spring rice on 37,600ha, a 5.9 per cent year-on-year increase.
Industrial production saw a year-on-year increase of 21.5 per cent in the reviewed period while the three-month exports of coffee, refined timber and cassava powder reached $6.7 million.
The prime minister also acknowledged progress in the construction of irrigation works, afforestation, healthcare and education.
However, like Kon Tum, Gia Lai is a poor province with many remaining problems in healthcare, education and infrastructure development.
Ethnic minority people still lack land for farming and housing while the competitiveness of the province’s industrial products and the efficiency of State enterprises remains low.
PM Khai asked Dac Lac authorities to strive to make the province the region’s, and the nation’s top tourism spot in the years to come.
According to provincial reports, Dac Lac currently attracts about 120,000 tourists each year.
The province has built about 600 irrigation systems, supplying about half of the province’s agricultural needs, while 98 per cent of communes have access to the national electricity grid.
Khai said that the province should continue to upgrade its processing industry to increase the value of agricultural and forestry exports, and improve the business environment in the industrial sector.
Khai stressed an urgent need to stop deforestation in the province and said illegal immigration was a major cause of forest destruction.
He added that if not dealt with soon, deforestation would negatively affect the living standards of local people and the province’s development. — VNS
