Expecting a change in local appearance
In the locality with the largest population in Ho Chi Minh City such as Ba Diem commune, people expressed their agreement with the locality's upcoming upgrading to a ward.
According to Ms. Lan Anh (resident of Ba Diem commune), this is a correct policy and in line with the development orientation of the city today: "I think the commune becoming a ward contributes to streamlining the apparatus, improving the efficiency of state management, and creating favorable conditions for socio-economic development and improving people's lives in the locality.
Sharing the same joy, Mr. Nguyen The Vu (resident of Binh Chanh commune) said that moving from a commune to a ward will help his locality change its new face towards civilization and modernity. He hopes that the ward will have conditions to develop transport infrastructure, drainage systems, and environment. The local health and education facilities are invested synchronously, meeting the requirements of an urban administrative unit.
Talking about the roadmap for transition from commune to ward, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of Ba Diem Commune People's Committee - said that when the project to establish urban administrative units is implemented, the locality will have development space. Planning will change from rural thinking to urban orientation, creating favorable premises to call for investment in real estate projects, transport infrastructure, schools and commercial centers.
On the people's side, Mr. Tuan Anh emphasized that the biggest change is improving the quality of life through synchronous infrastructure and cultural and sports facilities invested in upgrading. However, the most worrying issue is still the personnel apparatus to serve the specific population scale. He said: "Ba Diem is currently the most populous commune in Ho Chi Minh City with over 200,000 people. According to regulations, the ward level is assigned about 70 staff positions, but we expect that when it becomes an urban administrative unit, the city will proactively assign more staff positions compared to regulations, possibly 90 people to reduce pressure on staff and solve dossiers for people better.
Despite many prospects, the Chairman of Ba Diem Commune People's Committee also frankly pointed out challenges such as having to accurately assess the establishment of urban areas to bring benefits to people. He analyzed that if the locality hastily "races" to become a ward without careful assessment, it may lose support resources from the City and the Central Government. In particular, the commune level is currently benefiting from the New Rural Development program, if it becomes a ward, this source of benefits will no longer exist.
It is necessary to assess carefully, accurately and objectively. In parallel with ensuring progress according to directions, we must not lose the investment resources of the Central Government and the City for the existing area, avoiding causing disadvantage to people" - Mr. Tuan Anh shared.
Currently, Ba Diem commune has initially reviewed and basically met the necessary standards and criteria. However, the locality still needs guidance from departments and branches to develop urban classification projects. At a recent meeting on socio-economic situation, commune leaders also proposed that the city soon support funding and coordination mechanisms with consulting units to start building projects in a scientific way, both ensuring time and being practical.
Opportunity to improve the quality of life of people
Sharing about the roadmap for implementing the project to convert administrative units, Mr. Huynh Cao Cuong - Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Vinh Loc commune - said that the locality is in the process of urgently completing the approval steps. According to Mr. Cuong, changing from commune to ward is not simply changing the name but a comprehensive change in appearance, bringing many practical benefits to people and localities.
The biggest driving force for development when becoming a ward is the breakthrough in technical infrastructure and social infrastructure. Mr. Cuong emphasized that when becoming a ward, the locality will have a new legal basis and position to strongly attract investment resources: "Infrastructure will be invested worthily, from calling for businesses to upgrading the school and health system. All will be replaced according to urban standards.
The commune leader also said that this change will positively impact the personnel apparatus and security and order assurance work. Upgrading to a ward will be accompanied by adjustments to the mechanism, helping cadres, civil servants and police forces have conditions to operate more professionally, better meeting the needs of the people. Mr. Cuong affirmed that the ultimate goal of the project is still to improve living standards and create more "benefit points" for the locality in the future.
At the regular socio-economic meeting on May 8, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Home Affairs reported on the progress of building a project to establish urban administrative units (establishing wards) in the area. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has 54 communes, accounting for about 32% of the total number of administrative units. To date, 23/54 communes have self-reviewed, assessed the current situation and sent dossiers requesting the establishment of urban administrative units. The Department of Home Affairs is coordinating with relevant departments and branches to review, evaluate, and appraise ward establishment standards according to regulations to summarize and report to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to submit to the Party Committee and City People's Committee for comments before reporting to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee for consideration and approval of policies.
