Return congress woman battling for ethnic minorities

VietNamNet: What changes did you see in the National Assembly after three terms?

Trieu Thi Nai: The National Assembly has progressed very far, particularly in building laws.

This is a very small example: when the NA approves a law, deputies don’t have to read the whole law again. They o­nly vote for approval in areas of controversy. This working method helps shorten time taken and enhance quality.

The expertise and standard of NA deputies has also improved greatly and shows in discussions in groups and in the convention hall. The 10^th NA still had deputies who didn’t have even a primary education certificate and didn’t understand constituents’ petitions.

Now NA deputies are better equipped to represent people’s aspirations and wills. Deputies can perform their responsibilities better within their role. This has been proved during the operations of local NA delegations and of each deputy as they meet with constituents.

VietNamNet: Is there a team of experts assisting them?

Nai: I have not had any support from experts at this moment. In building laws, specialized NA deputies need to have the assistance of experts. But I haven’t had opportunities to ask for help from experts yet.

VietNamNet: In the recent NA sessions, many NA deputies strongly spoke about emigration and resettlement of people to serve big projects. How did the NA’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs supervise this task?

Nai: Our surveys showed that in many locations, residents are unsatisfied with the implementation of emigration and resettlement by local authorities.

Emigration is necessary to serve the country’s big projects. Where there is the policy of moving local people to a new site, the new homes must be at the same quality or better than their old homes. But the implementation of this policy has not been very good.

The life of emigrants is very difficult because some places for resettlement lack facilities like road, power and water. Moreover, land for cultivation in a new place is often smaller than the old.

Emigration and resettlement to gain land for big projects like the Son La hydro-power plant and smaller projects in the central province of Nghe An or the central and central highlands regions is also a matter for debate.

Last month the NA’s Council for Ethnic Affairs was still receiving complaint from Nghe An’s people related to unsatisfactory land compensation at the Ban Ve hydropower project.

Recently the NA discussed the emigration and resettlement associated with the Lai Chau Hydropower Plant and the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plants. Many deputies asked the government to instruct ministries and provinces to learn from the experiences of other projects to better prepare infrastructure before moving people to new homes.

It is also required that we teach people how to plant and breed animals at their new homes because conditions can be very different.

VietNamNet: You are close to ethnic minority people, what worries you most regarding their concerns?

Nai: Their petitions are mainly related to welfare and livelihood. All of them are legitimate but in current conditions, they cannot be satisfied completely.

But my biggest concern is about the life of government employees in the border areas. They always ask for increased salaries because their wages are very low.

For example, Ha Giang province has over 270km of borderline, where traffic is very difficult and the weather is harsh. The life and the work of teachers there is very hard but at some places, their salary can be paid several months late.

Last year, the local media reported that teachers at the Ta Su Choong primary school in Hoang Su Phi district, Ha Giang province weren’t paid for four months just because the accountant was o­n maternity leave!

Without them, how could mountainous dwelling children go to school while our policy is popularizing education? We must ensure income for mountain teachers and encourage them, and also health workers as well as grassroots officials.

It is also a matter of importance that we invest in infrastructure facilities. In some places, local people have to build roads to their villages by themselves.

In the western area of Hoang Su Phi district (Ha Giang), roads are eroded and broken all the time because of floods. Local people have to rebuild roads every year. Their contribution is great.

Meanwhile, people in the four mountain districts of Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh and Quan Ba are thirsty this season. They have to travel dozens of kilometers to carry water home.

In 2007, the Prime Minister agreed to build 30 lakes at a cost of 90 billion dong. Around ten lakes have been built and local people were very glad. But in remote areas, where there are no such lakes, it has become very difficult to build them because of escalating costs.

Many people in northern mountainous region migrated to the Central Highlands to have an easier life. It is important to ensure a good life for the border people. If they leave, who will defend our border?

VietNamNet: Do you feel the change in your living environment when you moved from Ha Giang to Hanoi?

Nai: You have to quickly adapt yourself to the new living environment to fulfill your mission. When I lived in Ha Giang, I had to go to Hanoi frequently for meetings so it was not difficult for me to familiarize myself with the new environment.

My family currently stays in a state house of the National Assembly’s office.

The biggest difficulty is traffic. I travel by a state car. I get traffic jams all the times so I have to allow time in my schedule. I’m scared by Hanoi’s traffic – it makes me very tense.

Trieu Thi Nai was born o­n April 12 1964 in a Dao ethnic family in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. She is vice chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Affairs. She was elected to the 9^th National Assembly when she was the chief of the Committee for Public Relations and Ethnic Affairs of the Ha Giang Provincial Party Committee. She was recently won the election to join the 12^th Congress.