National interest

Simply put, it is the common interest of the community of people living in a country, sharing the same origin, history, customs and practices.

In March 1848, in the British House of Commons, British Prime Minister Henry Palmerston made a classic speech: “There are no permanent allies, no permanent enemies. Only national interests are permanent and our duty is to pursue those interests.” Experts say that it is difficult to absolutize the concept of national interests, but to put it simply, it is the common interests of the community of people living in a country, sharing the same origin, history, customs and habits.

Although Ha Tinh is a small province, in recent times it has shown the whole country great efforts to achieve many high results in attracting investment, developing industry, building new rural areas, ensuring social security... In particular, since the beginning of the 2020-2025 term, the province has always been praised by the Government and the Ministry of Transport for its work in site clearance for the North-South Expressway project. What made these successes? It is not difficult to answer right away - it is because the people of Ha Tinh have put national interests above the interests of villages - communes - districts - provinces!

The North-South Eastern Expressway through Ha Tinh has a total length of 107.28 km and is being implemented with 4 component projects in 2 phases 2017-2020 (Dien Chau - Bai Vot Expressway, section through Ha Tinh, 4.9 km long) and 2021-2025 (Bai Vot - Ham Nghi, Ham Nghi - Vung Ang, Vung Ang - Bung, 102.38 km long).

The North-South Expressway is a national key project, of strategic significance for future socio-economic development. To ensure progress, in addition to doing a good job of site clearance, it is also necessary to exploit a large amount of common construction materials (soil, sand) to serve the project's construction. Therefore, from August 2023, the Provincial People's Committee has approved the exploitation of 11 new mines (8 landfill mines, 3 riverbed sand mines) to serve the construction of the North-South Expressway through Ha Tinh. Among these, people in My Yen village, Cam My commune (Cam Xuyen) have had concerns and worries about the sand mines in the area, when put into operation, affecting social infrastructure works and people's lives.

The concerns of My Yen residents are understandable, but all have been promptly answered by Ha Tinh's professional sector.

The sand mining area in My Yen village from the red line to the bank of Ngan Mo river, contributes to "straightening" the flow of Ngan Mo river, thereby improving the flood drainage capacity of Ke Go lake.

Regarding concerns about impacts on the foot of Ke Go Lake dam , in Document No. 1804/SNN-TL dated June 30, 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development determined that the sand mine is 1.5 km downstream from the Ke Go Lake flood spillway, outside the Doc Mieu - Ke Go Lake spillway protection corridor; in the vicinity of the sand mine, there are no other irrigation works or dike works.

Regarding concerns about impacts on the foot of National Highway 8C , in Document No. 1476/SGTVT-KH2 dated June 30, 2023, the Department of Transport determined that the sand mining location is on the right bank of the Ngan Mo River, far from the foot of National Highway 8C and does not affect the corridor of this route.

Regarding concerns about landslides in cultivated land , during the survey, the specialized agency of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has assessed and agreed on specific measures to prevent landslides such as exploiting according to the slope leveling plan, driving a thick system of bamboo piles 5-6m deep along the exploitation route, and using gabions and concrete piles for reinforcement at weak points.

At the same time, the document of the Provincial People's Committee also affirmed that if the exploitation process shows signs of landslides or is unsafe, it is mandatory to stop construction until there are safety measures approved by competent authorities before continuing.

Cam Xuyen district has proactively organized a press conference to inform about the policy of exploiting sand mines in My Yen village, Cam My commune to serve the construction of a key national project - the North-South expressway passing through the area.

The professional sector together with the provincial and district authorities, for the sake of the national interest, provided full and detailed information, and at the same time had frank dialogue with the people - all with the aim of making people understand and share to accompany the project owner and construction unit to speed up the progress and soon connect the expressway through the province.

For the sake of the nation, I hope the people of My Yen will "put aside their worries" and agree to serve the construction of key national projects in the area!

Hai Xuan

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/chinh-tri/loi-ich-quoc-gia/257116.htm