Infrastructure System Invested and Built in Nghi Son Island Commune in the Period 2010-2018

Statistics have shown that traditional industries are on the decline and the trade, service and handicraft industries are on the rise. It is forecasted that in the near future this shift will become stronger as Nghi Son Economic Zone continues to expand and develop. Along with that, traditional industries are forecasted to face more and more difficulties due to both subjective and objective factors.

Transformation of labor and employment structure: When the economic structure changes, the labor and employment structure will inevitably change. Some workers in the fishing sector will switch to service industries such as small trade, fishing logistics services (ice making) or go to work far away due to difficulties in traditional production. In addition, in the period from 2014 to 2018, the construction of the Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical plant has caused the need to recruit a large number of unskilled workers to increase rapidly. According to the report of the Nghi Son Economic Zone Management Board, during the implementation phase of the Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex project, the estimated number of workers at the peak period was up to 45,000 people (the Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical project alone was about 30,000 people).

According to preliminary statistics, in the period of 2014-2017, the commune had about more than a thousand workers working for Nghi Son oil refinery, including both male and female workers. However, the reality is that the workforce that switched from fishing to working as workers for Nghi Son Economic Zone has shown instability, potential risk, and uncertainty. That is because the workers who switched to working as workers at the Economic Zone are unskilled workers, without training. Therefore, after the Nghi Son oil refinery complex finished the construction phase and entered the production phase, the unskilled labor force was no longer used. This means that the recruited unskilled labor force became unemployed. Specifically, from the end of 2017

The demand for unskilled labor at the oil refinery has decreased by about

15,000 workers.

In Nghi Son commune, according to statistics from the commune People's Committee, by the end of 2018, the total number of laborers working in Nghi Son Economic Zone had decreased to only 325 people. Without jobs, some people have gone to work far away. According to our research, most of those who go to work far away often go to the South to sell lottery tickets and do other simple labor jobs. A few workers have returned to their traditional occupation of fishing. However, currently, the fishing and aquaculture profession in the commune is also facing many difficulties because the fishing grounds are gradually depleted, fishing equipment is still rudimentary, and has not been upgraded due to limited investment capital for the fishing industry. Fishermen do not have the conditions and qualifications to access modern technical equipment, so fishing productivity is not high. Aquaculture also faces many difficulties due to erratic weather, polluted marine environment, specifically water environment due to many reasons: waste discharge from residents, due to the development of the economic zone, due to unplanned farming but developed massively, spontaneously, exceeding the permitted level leading to continuous mass fish deaths, causing huge economic losses for the people. Thus, with the development of Nghi Son Economic Zone, the labor force of the commune is also affected in both positive and negative aspects.

Improved and developed infrastructure: is one of the basic foundations promoting socio-economic development. In recent years, specifically from 2010 to present, the infrastructure system of Nghi Son island commune has been invested in and built by the commune from various budget sources, including funding sources from Nghi Son Economic Zone.

Table 3.2. Infrastructure system invested in construction in Nghi Son island commune in the period 2010-2018

Time

Infrastructure	Capital	Voltage source
2012- 2013	Nghi Son Kindergarten	2,645,000,000 VND	Social Security Fund of Oil and Gas Engineering and Services Joint Stock Corporation Vietnam
2012	Middle school, elementary school and boarding school pill	190,000,000 VND	From the source of the commune
2014	Tidal embankment strong		Source of capital 257
2015	Internal road of fishing port		Source of capital 257
2015	Construction of Nghi Son Secondary School	546,000,000	State budget and Social Security Fund of Oil and Gas Engineering and Services Joint Stock Corporation Vietnam
2015-2016	Commune health station	2,462,369 VND	Government bonds
2017	Neighborhood road	250,000,000 VND	Concretize village roads
2018	Route connecting Tho Xuan airport to Nghia Hiep Economic Zone Paint		State budget capital
2018	Upgrade and expand main roads of the commune		State budget capital and socialization work

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Source: People's Committee of Nghi Son island commune

From the table above, we can see that in the period of 2010 - 2018, the infrastructure system of the commune was continuously invested in, built and upgraded, creating favorable conditions for the economic activities of the commune. The commune also benefits from capital sources from the activities of Nghi Son Economic Zone. In particular, with the expansion of the main road of the commune and the road connecting Tho Xuan Airport to Nghi Son Economic Zone, directly leading to Nghi Son deep-water port completed and put into use at the end of 2018, the road connecting the commune to the mainland has been more convenient than before. This is a factor that has a significant impact on the economic development of the commune and makes it more convenient for people to travel within the commune as well as to other places in and outside the province. In some aspects, the development of the infrastructure system due to subjective and objective impacts from Nghi Son Economic Zone has helped the commune increasingly narrow the distance with surrounding communes, as well as the general development of the district, province and the whole country.

Increasing application of science and technology in production : Along with economic development, fishing equipment and tools of the sea have changed due to the support of science and technology. Modern motorboats and nets, compasses, radios, and locators have replaced small boats with old nets and rowers. More and more large-capacity boats are put into use, bringing high output and productivity. In 2012, the whole commune had 197 vehicles with a total capacity of 21,184 CV (of which 133 vehicles with a capacity of 90 CV or more; 14 vehicles with a capacity of 45-90 CV; 6 vehicles with a capacity of 20-45 CV and 44 vehicles under 20 CV), the catch was 5,850 tons. In 2015, the whole commune had 184 vehicles with a total capacity of 21,184 CV.

20,492 CV (of which 24 vehicles with capacity from 200 CV or more; 104 vehicles from 90-200 CV; 12 vehicles from 45-90 CV; 3 vehicles from 20-45 CV and 41 vehicles under 20 CV), catch output of 9,550 tons, worth 133.65 billion VND. By 2017,

The whole commune has 186 vehicles with a total capacity of 20,926 CV (of which 29 vehicles have a capacity of 250-400 CV or more; 168 vehicles have a capacity of 90-250 CV; 21 vehicles have a capacity of 50-90 CV; 33 vehicles have a capacity of 20-50 CV and 35 vehicles have a capacity of under 20 CV). The catch output is 9,800 tons, worth 146,124 billion VND [141], [142], [143], [144], [145], [146].

* Changes in culture and society

Changes in social life: It can be affirmed that since the establishment of Nghi Son Economic Zone and the policies of the Party and State for coastal and island communes, the life of the community of residents of Nghi Son island commune has had significant changes, the average income per capita is increasing, the people's lives are improving both materially and spiritually. If in 2005, the total income of the commune was 40 billion VND/year, the average income per capita was 6.2 million VND/year; in 2010, the total income of the commune was 58 billion VND/year, the average income per capita was 7 million VND/year and by 2018, the total income of the commune was 255 billion VND/year, the average income per capita was 28.8 million VND/year. With the increasing quality of life of the residents in the commune, the gap with the surrounding communes and other coastal communes of the province has been narrowed.

Along with the increasing living standards of the people, the number of poor and near-poor households also tends to decrease. In 2012, the number of poor households in the commune was 303 households (accounting for 15.88%), near-poor households were 198 households (accounting for 10.38%). By 2017, the number of poor households in the commune was 211 households (accounting for 8.31%), near-poor households were 109 households (accounting for 4.29%).

Education and training work is concerned, the quality of education and training is improved, the rate of students passing the entrance exam to high school and vocational schools is increasing. Summary of 3 levels of education in the 2017-2018 school year with many achievements and outstanding results, the quality of education is improved, students are attentive

Good and studious, many students achieved high results in district and provincial excellent student competitions. The number of students passing the 10th grade entrance exam reached 100%, the number of students passing the high school entrance exam reached 95%. The commune always promptly encouraged and cared for students with difficult circumstances in the locality. Scholarship programs for poor students to overcome difficulties to excel...

Health care for people is always a concern of the commune government, notably in 2016, the island health project of Thanh Hoa Department of Health sponsored 121 vehicles with 121 medicine cabinets, with accompanying equipment with a total value of 480,000,000 VND to serve fishermen at sea. Propaganda work, raising people's awareness of health care, especially reproductive health and the concept of having many children, especially sons to have labor force, has been concerned. The concept that a family must have a son is no longer too heavy in families in Nghi Son island commune today. Mr. Le Van Son (34 years old in Nam Son village) shared:

Nowadays, whether you have a son or a daughter is not important, what is important is how you care for and raise them. Especially now, there are many social evils, and sometimes you are too busy working to take care of all your children's affairs. Therefore, now, when you have a son, you often feel more worried [PL8, STT 33, p. 208].

The propaganda work to build a cultural lifestyle in the village community has had positive changes, many traditional customs have been changed by the people to suit the new situation, for example, in the matter of weddings, it has been simplified more than before, weddings do not necessarily have to be organized lavishly and expensively, the venue is outside the cultural house, there have been collective weddings organized in the commune,...

Along with that, to increasingly support and help each other in production and daily life, many groups and labor teams were established.

established in the commune such as: fish drying groups, porter groups, transport groups...; labor relations in production are no longer as binding as before, when going to work, it is not necessary for family members or relatives to be on the same boat (previously only family members and relatives could go on the same boat), now only those who have the profession and meet all the conditions can join together to form labor groups and support each other at sea...

The authorities at all levels in the commune always organize well the work of visiting and encouraging the material and spiritual needs of social policy beneficiaries and meritorious people. Every year, along with the support of the commune, enterprises and companies in Nghi Son Economic Zone such as: Petrochemical Refinery, Nghi Son Deepwater Port, Nghi Son Ecotourism Area... always pay attention to supporting the poor, meritorious people, people with difficult family circumstances... with valuable gifts on the occasion of Tet holiday.

Besides the positive aspects, there are still many negative aspects. In education, the dropout rate is still high, health care has not met all the needs of the people, the work of building cultural villages has not gone into depth, the spiritual life of the people is still monotonous, there are not many cultural and social activities for people to participate in, environmental sanitation is still limited, the collection and treatment of waste still has many shortcomings and greatly affects the living environment of the people in the commune, especially water pollution greatly affects the livelihood of the people.

Changes in cultural life: Basically, the community of residents of Nghi Son island commune still maintains the tradition of love, mutual support and assistance in life, the relationship between the village and commune is still maintained. In particular, since being included in the planning of Nghi Son Economic Zone, the community of residents here has had more opportunities to interact with the outside world and more diverse subjects, making the people here more open in their relationships with

community. Along with that, the industrialization and modernization process has changed the relationships between neighbors, especially when occupations change. In the past, when people had the same way of making a living, the relationship between neighbors was close, sharing the joys and sorrows in life because they had the same concerns. In the current development process, some households no longer continue to do traditional jobs but switch to new jobs (working as workers in economic zones or participating in service activities, working far away, exporting labor...) which has created certain distances in the community of residents in the island commune. Due to the nature of the work, over time, the relationships have become more and more distant and less close. Mutual help and support, neighborly affection are no longer the same as before, somewhat no longer voluntary as before but must be influenced by the government and social organizations.

Along with the general development trend of the district, province and the whole country, especially the development of Nghi Son Economic Zone, the cultural consumption of the community of Nghi Son island commune is becoming more and more diverse. Residents here have more and more opportunities to contact, absorb and enjoy new cultural values from the outside, the spiritual life of the people is richer. All villages have cultural houses as a common place for villagers, regularly organizing sports movements, the commune radio station regularly maintains the rebroadcast of Voice of Vietnam and district radio twice a day, in the commune there are currently 3 households operating Internet business, 4 households operating karaoke business, 5 restaurants and hotels. Most houses have TVs to watch and many households have connected to the internet to update information. On the other hand, due to the development of the Economic Zone, the transportation system connecting the island commune with surrounding communes, districts and provinces has become more convenient. There is a bus route connecting the commune to Thanh Hoa city. This helps the community here to access cultural activities more easily and conveniently. People have the conditions to enjoy

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