NA leader attends ceremony to kick off work on Cần Thơ historical site

CẦN THƠ — Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân attended a ceremony in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ on Friday for a project to upgrade the Lộ Vòng Cung (Arc Road) historical relic site in Mỹ Khánh Commune, Phong Điền District.

The project has a total investment of over VNĐ99 billion (US$4.25 million) from social sources. It will be carried out from now to 2020.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Dương Tấn Hiển said Lộ Vòng Cung connects National Highway 1A with Phong Điền District. It runs through Mỹ Khánh, Nhơn Ái, Tân Thới and Giai Xuân communes, and ends at Ba Se highway in Ô Môn District.

This is a convenient transport route with an important strategic position located in the southwest gateway of Cần Thơ City.

During the resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, Lộ Vòng Cung was known as a “land of fire”, and held a very important position from a military perspective as controlling the road would enable attacks into the enemy-held bases in Cần Thơ.

Many Vietnamese soldiers laid down their lives there, especially in the 1968 Spring General Offensive and Uprising and the historic Hồ Chí Minh Campaign that resulted in the liberation of the South and reunited the nation in 1975.

On February 7, 2013, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a decision recognising the troop transit site, field hospital and weapon cache at Lộ Vòng Cung as a national historical relic site.

To preserve and promote the value of the site, on April 13, 2018, the municipal People’s Committee approved a project to upgrade it with the construction of a memorial site.

Dương Tấn Hiển asked that all construction and monitoring units be mindful of the schedule to ensure the quality, safety and aesthetics of the work.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân on Friday heard concerns from constituents in An Nghiệp Commune, Ninh Kiều District of the Mekong Delta City Cần Thơ.
Nguyễn Xuân Xinh, a local resident, expressed appreciation for the recent Q&As of cabinet members, but asked that the National Assembly must do more in terms of monitoring cabinet members to make sure that they go through with their pledges and promises.
Ninh Kiều District’s constituents have also voiced their delight at the country’s economic performance and social stability, with many poverty reduction programmes in remote and disadvantaged areas of the country bearing positive results.
However, local residents have also voiced their concerns over many issues the country is facing.
Trần Văn Trung from the district said that there should be more investment in the Mekong Delta’s infrastructure – air, rail, road and waterway – adding that the rate of 45.17 per cent of the allocated fund disbursed is too low.
In response, NA Chairwoman Ngân said that this issue would receive a lot of attention in the upcoming plenary session of the NA, adding that in the year-end meeting, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc himself would be present to field socio-economic questions from NA deputies.
NA Chairwoman said that this was the first time the country built the five-year mid-term public investment law so there were certain difficulties.
Đinh Minh Hùng, from An Nghiệp Commune, expressed his worries over the low rate of corrupt asset recovery.
In response, NA Chairwoman Ngân said that the money involved in all corruption cases where investigation and trials had concluded would be made public.
She cited the example of State-owned telecom operator Mobifone’s wrongful purchase of 95 per cent of the shares of the private audio-visual company AVG, where the Government had recovered VNĐ9 trillion so far.
“The courts will soon announce the money to be recovered in the future. In this case, the State doesn’t really suffer much loss, but the wasted efforts and the lost public trust is significant and must be remedied,” Ngân said.
At the meeting, Cần Thơ voters have also questioned the top legislator over the enhanced role of the parliament in the downsizing of public workforce, 12 loss-making projects under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, preventing corruption in the form of buying positions, and increasing the retirement age. — VNS