Thanh Hoa’s provincial authorities have been criticised over proposals to spend VND104 billion (USD4.58 million) on cultural activities to celebrate the province's 990th anniversary next year given the poverty of the province. 

There are some 1,000 substandard classrooms in Thanh Hoa Province

Director of Thanh Hoa Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Pham Duy Phuong on June 28 said that they had been asked by the provincial People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Dinh Xung, to work with the Department of Finance on the fund for various cultural activities to celebrate the province's 990th anniversary next year.

"We have proposed the total estimated spending of over VND104 billion in which over VND82 billion will come from the state budget," Phuong said. "Some of the major events include a grand ceremony of the anniversary which will cost some VND10 billion; a tourism promotion conference which cost about VND23.4 billion; an exhibition on the socio-economic achievements of Thanh Hoa Province with estimated cost of VND9.7 billion, and the Sam Son Beach Festival 2019 which cost some VND 5 billion.

Although the culture official reassured that they would try to avoid extravagance and spend money as effectively as possible, public complaints centre on the proposal being far too impractical. 

"Everyone knows that Thanh Hoa is one of the country's poorest provinces in which many remote mountainous areas are often heavily affected by natural disasters," a reader, Nghiem Quang Thuan, wrote in a comments to an article about the issue on Dan Tri/Dtinews Newspaper. "Every year the province has been asking for annual rice and money support from the government for its remote districts. So I think the province should prioritise upgrading infrastructure rather than spend big on ceremonies."

Another reader, Nguyen Thi Pha, cited a government report which said that in January this year, the government had to send 300 tonnes of rice to support Thanh Hoa during 2018 Tet Festival. The province also asked for a donation of 650 tonnes of rice to support low-income families in the area during the 2017 Tet Festival.

Another government report also said that Thanh Hoa has six districts including Ba Thuoc, Thuong Xuan, Quan Son, and Muong Lat that are among the country's 56 poorest districts. Among them, Muong Lat has not yet had access to electricity and people's lives are very hard due to difficult terrain.

Talking to Dantri/Dtinews Newspaper on June 26, vice director of Thanh Hoa Provincial Department of Finance, Nguyen Ba Hung, said that they have received a proposal from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the ceremonies and is considering it.

"We have also heard about rising public opposition to the proposal," Hung said. "We will ask them made a detailed plan and will carefully study it before approving."

Chairman of the province's People's Committee, Nguyen Dinh Xung, also confirmed that that was only a proposal and will be discussed to get opinions from agencies.

Dtinews