For many years, 16 roads from the center of Nam Lau commune to the villages have not been hardened. When it rains, the road surface is mushy, mud floods half a wheel, and some sections are knee-deep. People's lives are clearly affected.
In the harvest season, difficulties are compounded, with large areas of coffee, corn, and cassava, people have to carry bags of agricultural products across slippery roads to the gathering point. Motorcycle tires wrapped in chains are a familiar image every rainy season. Some trips are only a few kilometers long but take hours.
In Long Lau village, a dirt road about 2.5km long is the only entrance. Mr. Lo Van Lien, a villager, said: "It's raining for a long time, the road is all mud. Some places are flooded to the knees. Many people have to carry their vehicles for some sections or install chains on the tires to travel.
According to Mr. Lien, transporting agricultural products therefore incurs additional costs, time and reduces income. People hope to soon be invested in building concrete roads to stabilize their lives and production.
Degraded traffic infrastructure also directly affects students' learning. Sanh Pai school point, belonging to Nam Lau Primary School, has more than 200 students from many highland villages. Most of the roads to school are still dirt roads.
On rainy days, parents cannot pick up and drop off their children by motorbike because the road is slippery. Many children have to bring more clothes, roll up their pants and wade through mud to class. Some children fall in the middle of the road, their clothes are dirty, they have to wash and dry them at school before entering school.
Ms. Quang Thi Thu, a student at Sanh Pai school branch, shared: "Every time it rains heavily, I go to school very hard. The road is far and slippery, sometimes when I go to class, people are full of mud.
Teacher Dao Trong Tam, Principal of Nam Lau Primary School, said that in the rainy season, the attendance rate of students decreases significantly. Teachers going to school sites are also very hard.
We hope to have a solid road soon so that teachers and students can travel safely, and teaching and learning will not be interrupted," said teacher Tam.
Ban Xanh is one of the most difficult points of the commune. The village is more than 20km from the center, and the road to the village, nearly 12km long, is still dirt road. After each rain, the road turns into a muddy strip, and many vehicles cannot travel.
Mr. Ca Van Tien, Deputy Secretary of the Green Village Party Cell, said that the village management board regularly mobilizes people to dredge ditches and level temporarily. However, heavy rain causes road damage again.
According to Nam Lau Commune People's Committee, the locality has reviewed that 16/39 inter-village roads are dirt roads, 2.5 - 15km long. At the same time, the commune has included unhardened routes in the public investment plan for the 2027-2030 period, prioritizing the development of transport infrastructure.
Mr. Cam Bun Loc, Chairman of Nam Lau Commune People's Committee, said: "The commune has built a specific roadmap, gradually investing in key routes, and having solidified roads will create conditions for people to develop the economy.
For the people of Nam Lau, a concrete road not only helps to travel more conveniently. It is also an opening for economic development, improving people's knowledge and gradually changing the face of the highlands.
