Ninh Binh: No outstanding debt arising in basic construction in new rural construction

"Do not let basic construction debt accumulate, do not chase after achievements, do not over-mobilize people in new rural construction" - This principle has been seriously and effectively implemented by localities in the province. Therefore, from 2021 to present, there has been no basic construction debt in new rural construction in the province.

Traffic road in Nhu Hoa commune (Kim Son). Photo: Anh Tuan

"Say no" to outstanding construction debt

Kim Son is the last district in Ninh Binh province to be recognized as meeting new rural standards (NTM), but it is the first district to implement the NTM criteria in the 2021-2026 period, so the NTM criteria must meet higher requirements. However, for a district with many difficulties, whose economy mainly relies on agriculture, completing the task of building NTM without incurring outstanding debts for basic construction is a difficult problem for Kim Son district.

Comrade Tran Xuan Truong, Chairman of Kim Son District People's Committee, said: With the policy of not allowing the arising of outstanding debts in basic construction (XDCB), Kim Son has implemented synchronous solutions to mobilize all reasonable resources, in which the state budget is used to implement projects that create motivation and attract other resources. The District People's Committee has also directed all levels, sectors, and investors to strictly comply with the provisions of the law on investment and construction management; resolutely requesting units and localities not to start construction of new projects if not really necessary, only start construction of projects when there is enough capital. At the same time, strengthen the management, review, and balance of capital sources to limit the situation of scattered investment; urge contractors to focus on settling completed projects, avoid the situation of putting them into use but not yet settled, prolonged outstanding debts, causing frustration among the people.

Along with that, the district has focused on promoting the auction of assets and land use rights to create capital for basic construction investment. Directing communes and towns to review non-agricultural land funds and public assets that are not in need of use to put them up for auction to create capital for basic construction. Reducing the scale and total investment, determining technical stopping points, stopping implementation to settle the projects decided by the People's Committees at the commune level with long implementation periods, not ensuring the ability to balance capital to complete in the period of 2022-2025.

With many creative ways to mobilize all reasonable resources to contribute to the process of building new rural areas, in 12 years of implementing new rural construction, from the contributions and support of the people and the investment of the State, many construction items have been completed and put into use with high efficiency such as: Rural traffic concrete road system, intra-field irrigation canals, schools, medical stations, offices. In 2022, Kim Son has met the standards of a new rural district but has not incurred outstanding debts for basic construction.

Synchronize solutions

Identifying the construction of new rural areas as a key and continuous task, the political system at all levels of Ninh Binh province has determined to take part, along with the consensus and creativity of the people, to widely implement the National Target Program on New Rural Area Construction and achieve many important results. Up to now, the whole province has 8/8 districts and cities recognized as meeting the standards/completing the task of building new rural areas; Yen Khanh district has successfully organized the ceremony to receive the district meeting the advanced new rural area standards in 2023; Yen Mo district is focusing on completing the dossier of examination of districts and communes meeting the advanced new rural area standards in 2024. 119/119 communes have been recognized as meeting the new rural area standards, 50 communes meeting the advanced new rural area standards, 18 communes meeting the model new rural area standards; 542 villages, hamlets, and villages have met the model new rural residential area standards.

With the motto "No outstanding debts in basic construction, no chasing after achievements, no over-mobilizing people in building new rural areas", the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) advised the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial Steering Committee for National Target Programs to direct all levels, sectors and localities to continue tightening discipline in investment in construction of works and projects, strengthening state management of public investment, avoiding scattered and wasteful investment in building new rural areas; regularly inspect, supervise and strictly implement the provisions of the Law on Public Investment; mobilize capital from the budget, including: Sources from National Target Programs; capital from Government bonds for building new rural areas; 100% of the proceeds from auctioning land use rights for communes to build new rural areas according to the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council; excess revenue from the provincial budget; district and commune budgets; socialized capital and other legal capital sources to pay outstanding debts in basic construction and invest in works to ensure the implementation of new rural criteria.

Comrade Dinh Thi Lan Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: Every year, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with the Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue a plan to allocate resources in accordance with the principles, purposes, and objects, in accordance with the actual situation of the locality; guide the management and effective use of the budget, promptly arrange budget capital to support localities to accelerate the construction progress of works and projects to ensure quality and progress of the time for consideration and recognition of meeting NTM standards.

At the same time, the budget capital for localities is guaranteed according to the support mechanism in the Provincial Project and the Central Government's regulations; priority is given to communes with special difficulties, coastal areas, communes registered to meet standards in the year and build model new-style rural communes; priority is given to paying old debts, urgent projects, and at the same time supporting funds to buy cement for rural roads, supporting the construction of village cultural houses and supporting completed land consolidation. Regarding capital contributed by the people, the mobilization must be democratic and public, discussed and decided by the people themselves, without imposition; the contribution level is approved by the People's Council of the commune.

In particular, the province has done a good job of managing and effectively using capital under the direct supervision and implementation of representatives of the Community Investment Supervision Board and the people. The Fatherland Front and mass organizations, together with departments and branches, have promoted the dissemination of the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws on new rural construction in many diverse forms. Allocating capital sources from programs and projects invested by the sector to integrate and meet the goals of new rural construction.

Localities have developed plans and roadmaps for paying off outstanding debts of basic construction, ensuring the principle of prioritizing capital allocation for paying off outstanding debts of basic construction before allocating capital for new projects; organizing the review, adjustment and supplementation of planning and land use plans of each locality, forming land funds for auction to create a source for paying off outstanding debts of basic construction in building new rural areas.

For localities registering to meet NTM standards, conduct a review and identify specific projects that need to be implemented. Before starting construction, it is necessary to determine capital sources and the ability to mobilize and balance capital, focusing on prioritizing essential projects serving production development and people's lives, meeting the requirements of meeting NTM criteria.

As a result, the outstanding debts of basic construction in the construction of new rural areas in the province have decreased annually, specifically: In 2016, it decreased by 23%; in 2018, it decreased by more than 25%; by the end of 2020, Ninh Binh province had resolved all outstanding debts of basic construction in the construction of new rural areas. Continuing to promote the achieved results, from 2021 to present, the province has not had any outstanding debts of basic construction in the construction of new rural areas.

One of the goals of the New Rural Development Program for the 2021-2025 period is to build a synchronous and modern rural socio-economic infrastructure associated with the urbanization process. With a large volume of basic construction, the lessons learned in saying no to outstanding basic construction debts in the past will be very meaningful for our province as well as localities across the country to continue to successfully implement the Program in the next phase.

Nguyen Thom