Zhao Hongpo: Only by getting things done can we live up to the expectations of the people
Zhao Hongpo, First Secretary of the village task force dispatched by the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee to Gangou Village, Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County - Only by getting things done can we live up to the expectations of the people
????Editor's Note: To win the battle against poverty, the Provincial Party Committee decided to dispatch outstanding cadres from Party and government organs, enterprises and public institutions at the provincial, municipal and county levels to villages for assistance, for 5 consecutive years starting from 2016. This year, the province dispatched a total of more than 22,000 cadres for targeted poverty alleviation to stay in villages. They headed to the poorest villages across the province to make contributions on the battlefield of poverty alleviation, with their achievements reflected in the smiling faces of poor people.
????Over the past half year and more, cadres stationed in villages across the province have earnestly implemented the requirements of the Provincial Party Committee, kept the difficulties of the people close to heart, steadily advanced all work related to poverty alleviation, and fulfilled their assistance responsibilities well. Starting today, this newspaper opens the column "Targeted Poverty Alleviation through Village Assistance" to provide in-depth coverage of advanced models, successful practices and progress and results from all areas.
"It was already late at night, and we were still rushing to Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province... The villagers said: 'With you here, we feel secure.' For this trust, I must give it my all."
This was the WeChat Moments post sent on the evening of August 22 by Zhao Hongpo, First Secretary dispatched by the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee to Gangou Village, Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County. At the time, he had just led members of the Yongqing Breeding Professional Cooperative of Gangou Village to Liaocheng, Shandong, where they reached an agreement with a company on purchasing donkeys, and then took the cooperative members by car to the large livestock market in Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, to buy donkeys.
"Meat-donkey breeding is now a seller's market, with supply falling short of demand. As long as a poor household raises one donkey well, it can increase its income by about 5,000 yuan a year. This trip for inspection brought great gains. Shandong Aduobao Donkey Industry Technology Co., Ltd. agreed to provide breeding donkeys and buy them back, and the poor people also bought donkeys at affordable prices." Zhao Hongpo told reporters excitedly a few days ago.
The first time I met Zhao Hongpo was on a summer day with heavy rain. At the time, the reporter drove to Gangou Village for an interview and happened to catch him in the rain, unloading organic fertilizer from a large truck together with villagers. He was tanned dark and looked just like a farmer. When talking about Gangou Village's "poverty alleviation formula," he was every bit the expert: "Organic fertilizer is a treasure! It can greatly improve the soil and raise both the yield and quality of apples."
Gangou Village in Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County is located deep in the Yanshan Mountains, with nine parts mountain, half a part water and half a part farmland. Agricultural facilities are backward, and the people's thinking is conservative. The village has 260 households and 860 people, including 177 poor households and 550 poor people. Villagers' income mainly depends on working elsewhere, and last year per capita annual income was only 1,760 yuan. Just after this year's Spring Festival, the village task force formed by Zhao Hongpo, deputy director of the News Division of the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee, Guo Xiaowei, a principal staff member of the Secretariat of the Provincial Civilization Office, and Li Weiqiang, a principal staff member of the Secretariat of the Provincial Journalists Association, arrived in this poor mountain village.
Where is the root of poverty? Which way leads out of poverty? The village task force immediately got to work, gained an in-depth understanding of the village conditions and public opinion, and summed up the main causes of poverty: no industry had been formed to enrich the people, and the smallholder economy of each household was not suited to the requirements of modern agricultural development. After clearly identifying the main causes of poverty, the village task force proceeded from reality, combined short-term poverty alleviation with long-term development, and determined the direction of industrial poverty alleviation - meat-donkey breeding and apple planting.
Following the "one village, one product" development model, widely soliciting opinions from the county animal husbandry bureau, breeding enterprises and the people, and after collective study and resolution by the village "two committees," the village task force placed Gangou Village's short-term poverty alleviation project on meat-donkey breeding and, through application, included it in the scope of support from the county's special financial poverty alleviation funds. Zhao Hongpo also mobilized Li Wei, a village leader in getting rich, to establish the Yongqing Breeding Professional Cooperative, drawing poor people into the cooperative and driving household-based scattered breeding. "Raising donkeys is highly profitable, the market is stable, and it is especially suitable for elderly people and women who stay at home." Zhao Hongpo told reporters.
In order to accurately set the long-term poverty alleviation project, Zhao Hongpo invited Guo Suping and Qi Guohui, professors from Hebei Agricultural University and members of the research group of Li Baoguo, a "Model of the Times," to the village for inspection and research. Based on factors such as climate, soil and transportation, the expert group proposed a path of industrial poverty alleviation led by Ralls Janet apple planting and integrated with tourism, and planned the construction of a "Ralls Janet Forest Cultural Sightseeing Park." After the park is completed, the village collective will subcontract it to poor people for operation, and the profits will be distributed between the contracting households and the village collective according to a set ratio. In this way, both the income of the village collective is guaranteed and poor people can embark on the road to prosperity.
Once decided, they got right to it! With strong support from the township Party committee and government, the village task force worked in unison with the village "two committees" to successfully persuade the poor people, and transferred 1,100 mu of land from villagers, forming the core demonstration area of the "Ralls Janet Forest Cultural Sightseeing Park." The project was included as a key project of the collective economy of Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County, received 1 million yuan in financial support, and leveraged more than 2 million yuan in other investment. At present, construction of the park has begun. A 2,600-meter industrial road, 3 small water storage ponds and one water-retaining dam have been newly built, and supporting water conservancy facility projects are under construction.
"We plan to make good use of Qinglong's favorable policies for strengthening water conservancy facilities and equip most of the village's farmland with water conservancy facilities before winter. At the same time, we encourage the people to practice fruit-medicinal herb intercropping and fruit-vegetable intercropping to increase short-term returns. After the project is completed next spring, it is expected to help 80 poor households escape poverty and become prosperous." Zhao Hongpo was full of confidence.
"Only by doing things and getting things done can we be worthy of the organization's trust and live up to the expectations of the people!" Zhao Hongpo said that the village task force will take the initiative, work with passion, and strive to let the villagers live a prosperous life as soon as possible!