Khmer minority improves standard of living
VNA (Hanoi)
VietNamNet Bridge – Poverty reduction and job generation is still a top priority for the Khmer people from the Mekong Delta’s Soc Trang Province even though the area’s socio-economic development.
In 1992, Soc Trang became a new province when it was separated from Bac Lieu. Then, 64.2 percent of households in the area were living below the poverty line. By late 2006, this figure had been dramatically reduced to 25.5 percent.
Despite this progress, there remain 43 communes which are categories as the most disadvantaged.
Large areas of land in the region are laying waste, so many families in the Phu My Commune, of the My Tu District, buy vegetables or fish to eat.
They say this is because they don’t have enough capital to invest in agricultural production and need financial support from local authorities before they can begin improving their land.
On top of this, a lot of income which is accumulated after months of hard work is spent on extravagant parties such as festival celebrations, weddings and ritual ceremonies.
To help poor farmers stabilise their production and improve their living conditions, provincial authorities have formulated a development plan for 2007-2010 with a total budget of 545 trillion VND (34 million USD).
If the plan is successful, by 2010, 6,500 households will be allocated land for house-building and more than 16,000 families will give up agricultural work and change their livelihoods to more financially viable jobs such as craft production. In a move to solve the area’s skills shortage, another 28,000 people will be selected to attend vocational courses.
The Soc Trang People’s Committee will also provide financial support in the form of annual grants to the value of 1 million VND for each of the 1,792 poor Khmer ethnic households.
Local authorities have already developed projects to help Khmer farmers revitalise traditional crafts like sedge mat and rattan weaving for export.
Funding for these projects has been provided by the central government with some of the finance coming from the budgets and credits from banks.
Danh Thi Set is one of the many beneficiaries of such policies.
With financial and technical support from authorities in the My Tay Hamlet, of the Nga Nam District, Set has improve the soil in her garden and can now grow the high yield and distinctly flavoured Hoa Loc mango and Nam Roi grapefruit. She also installed several ponds to rear the loc and ro fish.
“Every year, my family earn at least 30 million VND in profit after costs have been deducted,” said Set.
The family of Ms Truong Thi Sa Ry from the An Ninh Commune, in the My Tu District has also banished poverty and been able to save money, thanks to support from local authorities.
Many enterprises located in the Soc Trang region of the Mekong have met with local authorities to discuss ways to help poorer households generate more income.
The Ut Xi Aqua Processing Joint Stock company has a workforce of 3,000 workers, and more than half of them are local Khmer people.
Many families have more than three members who work for the company.
Each workers receives an average monthly salary of 1.5 million VND.
The Mo O Aqua Culture Company from Trung Binh Commune, in Long Phu District, employs 250 workers, 80 percent of them are Khmer.
The authorities in Long Phu are proud of their progress and have declared that no household in the district is now living under the poverty line.
This success has been achieved because authorities have implemented proactive job generation initiatives and developed businesses that require intensive labour such as shrimp farms, fishing logistic services or aqua product exploitation or even sending young Khmer people to work abroad as guest workers.
Source: VNA
In 1992, Soc Trang became a new province when it was separated from Bac Lieu. Then, 64.2 percent of households in the area were living below the poverty line. By late 2006, this figure had been dramatically reduced to 25.5 percent.
Despite this progress, there remain 43 communes which are categories as the most disadvantaged.
Large areas of land in the region are laying waste, so many families in the Phu My Commune, of the My Tu District, buy vegetables or fish to eat.
They say this is because they don’t have enough capital to invest in agricultural production and need financial support from local authorities before they can begin improving their land.
On top of this, a lot of income which is accumulated after months of hard work is spent on extravagant parties such as festival celebrations, weddings and ritual ceremonies.
To help poor farmers stabilise their production and improve their living conditions, provincial authorities have formulated a development plan for 2007-2010 with a total budget of 545 trillion VND (34 million USD).
If the plan is successful, by 2010, 6,500 households will be allocated land for house-building and more than 16,000 families will give up agricultural work and change their livelihoods to more financially viable jobs such as craft production. In a move to solve the area’s skills shortage, another 28,000 people will be selected to attend vocational courses.
The Soc Trang People’s Committee will also provide financial support in the form of annual grants to the value of 1 million VND for each of the 1,792 poor Khmer ethnic households.
Local authorities have already developed projects to help Khmer farmers revitalise traditional crafts like sedge mat and rattan weaving for export.
Funding for these projects has been provided by the central government with some of the finance coming from the budgets and credits from banks.
Danh Thi Set is one of the many beneficiaries of such policies.
With financial and technical support from authorities in the My Tay Hamlet, of the Nga Nam District, Set has improve the soil in her garden and can now grow the high yield and distinctly flavoured Hoa Loc mango and Nam Roi grapefruit. She also installed several ponds to rear the loc and ro fish.
“Every year, my family earn at least 30 million VND in profit after costs have been deducted,” said Set.
The family of Ms Truong Thi Sa Ry from the An Ninh Commune, in the My Tu District has also banished poverty and been able to save money, thanks to support from local authorities.
Many enterprises located in the Soc Trang region of the Mekong have met with local authorities to discuss ways to help poorer households generate more income.
The Ut Xi Aqua Processing Joint Stock company has a workforce of 3,000 workers, and more than half of them are local Khmer people.
Many families have more than three members who work for the company.
Each workers receives an average monthly salary of 1.5 million VND.
The Mo O Aqua Culture Company from Trung Binh Commune, in Long Phu District, employs 250 workers, 80 percent of them are Khmer.
The authorities in Long Phu are proud of their progress and have declared that no household in the district is now living under the poverty line.
This success has been achieved because authorities have implemented proactive job generation initiatives and developed businesses that require intensive labour such as shrimp farms, fishing logistic services or aqua product exploitation or even sending young Khmer people to work abroad as guest workers.
Source: VNA
3 comments:
How much money overseas Khmers Krom are sending to theirs families
every year? Millions...
Every time the fucken Vietcong are facing stiff resistence from the Khmer Krom people and international community regarding the Vietcong violation of Khmer Krom's human right and the Vietcong always use some statistic to paint a rosy picture of the Khmer Krom living condition under the harsh Vietcong oppression!
Khmer Krom people and International community need to be careful when the Vietcong start using statistic to lie about what is going on in the Khmer Krom communities in Vietname! Any Vietcong can put up a number and start bullshiting about this and about that but the fact is the Vietcong still adopt the same harsh treatment toward the Khmer Krom people, the Montagard Christian, and Catholic...still remain!
How much longer the Vietcong continue to lie to the world community about their harsh treatment toward the Khmer Krom people? How much longer?
ugh! I'm so disoriented right now I'm not sure what to say. If that was true for my village we will not starve year after year! That stupid development i don't know who pocket it reach, but i'm sure its the pocket of those pigs that keep tricking the poor farmers into losing their lands. Man, we're dead. Really either way. We're going to die of starvation if Vietnam still stays in denial of the real problem.
I'm sick and tire of hearing one happy information while my family and relative on the other hand everytime they call, its only about whose land is going to be taken next!
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