Scholarships are granted to ethnic students in Soc Trang. (Photo: VNA) Ly Rotha, head of the province's Committee for Ethnic MinorityAffairs, said the province has had 64 of its 80 communes recognised asnew-style rural communes under the country’s programme on building new-stylerural areas. Of the 64, 31 are ethnic people communes, he said.
Ethnic people, mostly Khmer people, account for 35% of theprovince’s population.
The province has the largest number of Khmers in the delta, with28% of its population being Khmer people.
It is using 790 billion VND (33.5 million USD) to implement thenational target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority andmountainous 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 itspopulation, has spent more than 9 billion VND (380,000 USD) to implement 10rural transport projects in living areas of ethnic people since 2021.
Tang Thi Sol, an ethnic woman in Bung Triet hamlet in Tran De’s LieuTu commune, said that previously the old Ta Oc bridge was narrow anddeteriorated, did not secure travel safety and had been rebuilt.
“The new bridge is wide and secures travel safety, especially fortransporting agricultural products in Bung Triet and neighbouring hamlets, andpeople here are glad,” she said.
The district has supported ethnic people to find jobs and providedthem household utensils such as water containers.
Phan Thi Tam in Lieu Tu commune has been given a 2,000 litrecontainer for storing clean water. Previously, she stored clean water forhousehold use in pots which could only store water enough for her family usefor one or two days.
“The 2,000 litre container provides more water. It has a lid whichhelps 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 for230 households.
All poor and near poor ethnic people in the province are providedfree health cards.
Up to 97.5% of ethnic households can access hygienic water.
Rotha, head of the province’s Committee for Ethnic MinorityAffairs, said the national target programme for socio-economic development inethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province will focus on investingin socio-economic development in areas of Khmer people and reduce povertyrapidly and sustainably.
It will provide housing and farming lands and supply clean waterfor 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 alarge number of ethnic students, and buy equipment for teaching ethnicstudents, he said.
It will preserve the culture of ethnic minorities, invest intelevision and radio systems and apply information technology forsocio-economic development in ethnic people areas, he said.
The province plans to increase the average income of ethnic peopleto 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 lastyear, including 7,122 Khmer households and 345 Hoa households.
The number of poor Khmer households accounted for 7.1% of theprovince’s Khmer households last year, down by 3% against 2021.
The province aims for all communes, wards and towns to have pavedroads for car travel to their centres and up to 90% of roads in hamlets andvillages paved with cement or asphalt.
It also aims for 99% of ethnic households to access national powergrids and other power supply sources.
The province has focused on preserving the cultures andtraditional values of ethnic minorities.
In April, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourismbegan drafting up a plan of preserving and promoting the traditional culturalvalues of ethnic minorities in combination with developing tourism for thisyear.
Under the plan, the province’s Museum, in cooperation withrelevant agencies of districts, towns and Soc Trang city, will survey andcollect musical instruments, items related to traditional crafts and food, andhouseholds utensils of Khmer and Hoa ethnic people.
Tran Minh Ly, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports andTourism, said the department has implemented the plan since 2021 and willcontinue to implement it well.
It will continue repairing hamlet-level cultural houses which aredeteriorated, he said.
In the first half of the year, the province has organised 36 artperformances at 12 places in rural, remote and ethnic people-inhabited areas,attracting the view of 36,000 people./.
VNA
