VietNamNet Bridge – Cu Lao Xanh, which deserves to be a tourism paradise, seems to be indifferent to tourists. No one intends to develop the local infrastructure to attract travelers.

Part 1: The precious gem under the beauty’s pillow

No infrastructure items

Dan Viet’s reporters felt lucky when they could find somewhere to stay when they visited the isle. If they had not informed about the trip to the Nhon Chau Commune People’s Committee, they would have not got a chair to sit.

The only guest house and the most luxurious one in the island is the guest house of the commune people’s committee, where there are three beds.

Le Van Sao, a local authorities’ officer, said if travelers “accidentally” arrive in the isle, they would have to seek somewhere to stay among people’s homes. If they cannot find any places, they would ask for the help from the commune authorities.

“Sometimes, we have to lend our office to the travelers,” Sao said.

In fact, the reporters were warned by Ngo Van Quy, Chair of the commune people’s committee that they would have to have meals with families of the commune’s leaders, because there are no food services on the isle.

The reporters were told to finish the dinner soon, because the electricity would be cut in some hours. Quy said that the island receives five billion dong a year from the budget which would be spent on necessary works in the commune. Of this sum, 2 billion dong has been used to buy oil to run the power generators from 7 pm to 8 pm every day.

In order to save money, local authorities only use electricity for lighting.

The most luxurious restaurant in the island is the pig’s trip soup shop of Tam Canh. This is considered the most luxurious shop in the island because there are some 10 chairs for visitors.

The land which does not welcome investors

A small canoe which can run fast at high speed, worth some 400 million dong remains the dream of the local people. It would be useful if someone falls sick on the island and he needs to be carried to the mainland urgently.

However, in the current conditions, it would take at least two hours to carry the victims to the shore. And this would be feasible only if the victims are from well off families which can pay 2 million dong immediately to ship owners.

In other cases, if the victims cannot pay 2 million dong to the ship owners, they would be first carried to the commune people’s committee, which would promise to pay money to ship owners, or advance money to ship owners to buy fuel. After the procedures are fulfilled, the victims would be carried to the hospitals in the mainland.

Local residents recalled the story about a teacher from Quy Nhon City, who left home for the island to work as a teacher. The teacher has died just because she could not be taken to hospitals quickly.

The soil in Nhon Chau commune is poor to organize agricultural production. Therefore, developing tourism proves to be the best solution for the locality. Investors, who hear about the wonderful landscapes here are always ready to inject money in the tourism projects in the island.

However, the investors cannot move ahead with their investment projects, simply because there has been no detailed programming on the locality development.

Quy said that no investor dares to pour money into the projects here, because they do not know if their projects can exist in the future, or they would be cleared by the provincial authorities to serve the local development strategy.

Dan Viet