In the development orientation for the period 2020-2025, Vinh Linh district identifies one of the key tasks, which is to build Ben Quan town to meet the criteria of a type V urban area; expand and develop the town in the direction of a comprehensive economic urban area, an axis in the triangle of Ho Xa - Cua Tung - Ben Quan urban areas connecting three key economic regions of Vinh Linh district for mutual development. On these historic April days, we had the opportunity to go to the West of Vinh Linh, visit Ben Quan town, a land imbued with epic qualities, a place that marked many victories in the long march to save the country, a place where the aspiration to build Ben Quan into a youthful, dynamic mountain town and the dream of "from the forest to the city" has now become a reality with many premonitions and hopes.
Ben Quan town center, Vinh Linh district today - Photo: D.T
Green farm in soldier's uniform
During my journalism career, I have visited Ben Quan many times. A rather thick memoir I wrote in 1992 with evocative illustrations by artist Tran Nguyen Luu, published in Quang Tri newspaper in the fall of 1992, also wrote about this very familiar land with the title “Immense Ha Beach”.
Located in the northwest of Vinh Linh district, in the past, this place used to have a cross-Vietnam highway that many feudal dynasties' mandarins and soldiers passed through. This highway was the route to the anti-French resistance base in the west of Quang Binh of the patriotic King Ham Nghi and his entourage when the Tan So mountain defense base in the Cua area was surrounded by the enemy.
During the resistance war against the French, the upper road became a vital communication route connecting the free zone of Inter-zone IV with Inter-zone V. During the resistance war against the US to save the country, this small road was expanded, becoming the eastern branch of the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail passing through Ben Quan.
The Ben Quan - Bai Ha - Quyet Thang Farm area became a solid rear base of the Vinh Linh area through two resistance wars against foreign invaders; it was the location of the B5 Front Command Headquarters. The Ben Quan area was the gateway to penetrate deep into the Route 9 and Northern Quang Tri fronts; it was the rear base, "springboard" of many main force units participating in the battle in the Southern battlefield during the resistance war against the US.
In Village 3, Ben Quan town, there is a memorial stele of the National Revolutionary Historical Site: T5 Missile Site of Missile Regiment 238, which marks a heroic event that shocked the world, that was the first time the most modern B52 strategic bomber of the US Air Force was shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam. This site was ranked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Decision No. 3998/QD-BVHTTDL dated January 10, 2010.
After nine years of protracted resistance, on July 20, 1954, the Geneva Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina was signed. The resistance war against French colonialism by our army and people ended in victory.
According to the provisions of the Geneva Agreement, our country was temporarily divided at the 17th Parallel, Hien Luong Bridge, Ben Hai River, and waited until July 1956 to hold a general election to unify the country. However, the betrayal of the dictatorial government of Ngo Dinh Diem, supported by the US, carried out its ambition of permanently dividing our country.
From here, the entire Vietnamese nation entered the resistance war against the US and its henchmen that lasted more than twenty years to realize the aspiration of national reunification. In that situation, to protect and build the socialist North into a solid rear for the revolution in the South, our Party and State organized the transfer of a number of military units to economic activities according to the military farm model in order to rearrange the defense strategy, expand residential areas, implement the people's war policy, and bring the Northern countryside to socialism through the path of rural cooperativization.
“The birth of a town-level administrative unit in the West of Vinh Linh is a recognition of the extraordinary efforts of the pioneers who opened up the land and officially marked a new development step of the land and people here. In the process of innovation, it is also the source of strength, the continuous connection of the glorious tradition between the Quyet Thang Farm Party Committee and the Party Committee, government and people of Ben Quan town today...”. |
After completing its combat mission in the resistance war against French colonialism, the 325th Division was assigned by the Party, the State, and the Central Military Commission to station troops in Quang Binh province and Vinh Linh area to both protect the border, develop the economy, and ensure national defense and security. Considering the particularly important position for the border area and for the socialist North, on August 19, 1958, on the land of Western Vinh Linh in Vinh Ha commune, officers and soldiers of Battalion 332, Regiment 18, Division 325 reinforced a number of units from friendly units assigned to establish Quyet Thang Farm. Along with the decision to establish the farm, the Standing Committee of Vinh Linh Regional Party Committee decided to establish the Quyet Thang Farm Party Committee on the basis of all party members, company party cells, and battalion party committees transferred from the army. The Quyet Thang Farm Party Committee was one of the first 36 military farm party committees established after peace was restored in the North.
When it was established, Quyet Thang Farm was planned by the Government and assigned to use 1,200 hectares of hilly land in Vinh Long, Vinh Ha, Vinh Khe communes to develop industrial crops such as rubber, tea, pepper and raise buffalo, cows, pigs, and freshwater fish, while organizing the construction of a strategic area in the combat defense line of Vinh Linh area, as a "springboard" to support the battlefield of Northern Quang Tri. The goal was to build Quyet Thang Farm into an economically rich, politically strong, and defense-steady area in the "fence" position of the western border.
When it was first established, Quyet Thang Farm still maintained the same management, organization, staffing and operation methods of the army. Workers received salaries and allowances according to their military ranks, and their food rations were provided by the army. Since 1961, officers and workers of Quyet Thang Farm no longer received military salaries. The farm held a "star lowering ceremony", and soldiers became farm workers, directly under the Ministry of Agriculture, receiving salaries according to the ranks and grades of agricultural workers...
In just nearly 8 years, with the solidarity and determination of Uncle Ho's soldiers, the farm completed land reclamation and basic construction. By the end of 1964, the farm had planted 1,014 hectares of rubber trees, 54 hectares of tea trees, 32.5 hectares of pepper trees and hundreds of hectares of various vegetables. The farm had a herd of over 2,200 buffaloes and cows, a herd of 600 pigs, a mechanical repair workshop and many other basic construction works serving production and daily life.
It can be said that on the land of the historic Ben Quan town, every inch of land, every mountain, every river, every construction, every valley, every hill is soaked with the blood, sweat, and tears of many previous generations. The residents of Ben Quan town today are descendants of Uncle Ho's pioneer soldiers who came to reclaim the new land in the West of Vinh Linh. This is the first generation to build Quyet Thang Farm into a Labor Hero unit. That "pre-reclamation" generation is also the one who later laid the foundation to build the strong Ben Quan town Party Committee today.
Green city in the middle of the forest
By 1994, the residential area of Quyet Thang Farm had all the socio-economic and cultural characteristics and state management requirements. Considering the proposal of the competent authorities of Vinh Linh district and Quang Tri province, the Government issued Decree No. 79/ND-CP dated August 1, 1994 on the establishment of Ben Quan town, Vinh Linh district. During this period, the town area was 419 hectares, with a population of 3,421 people and 1,064 households. From then on, Ben Quan had a new responsibility: to build a type V urban area in the Vinh Linh forest area.
New house in the middle of a lush rubber garden of residents of Ben Quan town, Vinh Linh district - Photo: D.T
Ben Quan has a rather complex terrain, many streams, hills, and mountains, making transportation difficult, but in return, this is a locality with a lot of potential in investing in developing industrial and forestry crops, building combined farm economic models, being a central area, with Ho Chi Minh Road, National Highway 9D, Provincial Road DT 571 passing through, a place for trading goods of the communes in the West of Vinh Linh.
In economic development, the agricultural, forestry and fishery production sector accounts for a high proportion, becoming the town's strength. People have focused on exploiting the potential of hilly land, identifying the spearheads as rubber trees, forestry trees and livestock farming.
In addition, planning to renovate mixed gardens, develop forest garden models, introduce many new varieties of valuable commodities to replace those with low economic value, along with maintaining the area for freshwater fish farming and the area for annual rice production.
The industrial, handicraft, construction and trade and services sectors have many positive changes, creating diverse goods exchange and circulation activities, basically meeting consumer needs.
Especially in recent years, the task of building a town that meets civilized urban standards has always been of great concern to the Party Committee, People's Committee, associations and unions of Ben Quan town, with great efforts and joint efforts, and has achieved many remarkable results.
In particular, the general urban planning has been approved and publicly announced by the Provincial People's Committee; infrastructure has been invested in construction, upgrading and repairing, including the town People's Committee headquarters, 3 schools, and cultural houses in 5 hamlets; the number of households with solidly built houses, suitable for the general architecture, reached 90%. The whole town has 35.55 km of roads, including 4 km of asphalt concrete roads, 15.6 km of paved roads, and 14.45 km of cement concrete roads.
Roads are upgraded and repaired every year, facilitating the movement of goods and people. Electricity has reached almost all residential areas; the program of “lighting up the country roads” in 5 hamlets has reached 95%.
From an area with limited living conditions, now 100% of households in Ben Quan have clean water to use; 99.6% of households have toilets, bathrooms, and clean water tanks.
The town has done well in applying information technology in management and operation such as applying electronic one-stop system, using shared software, applying digital signature. The fields of culture, sports, health, education... have many improvements.
A prominent feature of Ben Quan town is that the population is gathered from many regions and areas across the country, formed during the construction and development of Quyet Thang Farm, all coming to this place in the West of Vinh Linh to settle down and make a living.
Although there are no traditional clan or village relationships, the community of Ben Quan town is closely connected in comradeship, teamwork and the pioneering spirit of the working class.
By the end of 2023, the town had 1,059 households meeting the criteria of cultural families for three consecutive years, accounting for 92.6%; 5/5 hamlets were recognized by the District People's Committee as cultural hamlets. Another good news is that the average income per capita in 2023 reached 66 million VND; the multidimensional poverty rate is lower than the general local regulations, the whole town currently has only 11/1,156 households, accounting for 0.95%...
Now, passing through Ben Quan town, we can easily encounter new bustling streets like in the city. This August, along with the event of celebrating 70 years of Vinh Linh tradition, Ben Quan town will also reach the milestone of 30 years of prosperity.
30 years, from a remote forest farm to a dynamic new urban area along the vital Ho Chi Minh road, Ben Quan has known how to rely on its deep historical tradition and the will of all people to care for the future as one to create a great internal force capable of achieving prosperity, happiness, and wealth in the near future...
Dao Tam Thanh
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