Quang Ninh leaders were determined to find capital and technology to pull the grid to Co To island. As a result, Co To has developed dramatically, becoming a rich place to spend economically and firmly on national defense.
7:00 am, we arrived at Cai Rong port (Van Don district), boarded a modern 2-hull boat straight to Co To. Only 65 minutes later, the ship cut off the waves to dock on the island. An area of pearl island with white sand and blue sea, spacious roads make people feel like a corner of Nha Trang or Phu Quoc. Few people know that this place used to be a difficult area lacking hundreds of faces, even fresh water is also a luxury. The turning point came in 2013, the leaders of Quang Ninh province were determined to pull the power grid to the island, although the resources and technology were still limited at that time. Along with that is the construction of fresh water reservoirs. Having electricity and water has helped Co To’s economy “brighten”, people’s lives have been rapidly improved. Co To rose to become an attractive destination for tourists. ‘Bringing electricity to Co To island is strategic thinking’ Mr. Le Hung Son, Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Co To district assessed that the project of bringing electricity to Co To island in 2013 was a great turning point, helping this island district to have great development. Co To is a pre-pepper island district of the country with 200 km of sea border stretching from Tran Island to Bach Long Vi archipelago of Hai Phong. The district has 50 islands, large and small, of which the largest is Co To island, about 50 km2 wide. The primeval forest here is preserved almost intact with hundreds of years old trees, tangled vines. Co To also owns 300 km2 of fishing grounds. The potential is that, but before 2010, the economy in Co To is almost underdeveloped due to limited infrastructure, especially the 3 shortages: lack of electricity, lack of fresh water and lack of ships to the island. Only over 50 nautical miles from Cai Rong and Van Don ports (more than 60 km), but in 2011, Co To was still very far away because only 2 wooden ships traveled for more than 3 hours to arrive. There is a lack of electricity on the island, especially fresh water in the dry season, so all services and tourism cannot be developed. Mr. Dao Van Vu, now Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Van Don district, who had more than 20 years of attachment to Co To, recalled the difficulties on the island: “There were times when I started from Cai Rong, but only 6 hours later to arrive. Because of the strong wind, the train had to go around to avoid the waves. When coming ashore, they must carry sandals, roll up their pants and wade ashore but do not have a wharf. The district has no grid electricity, the main source of electricity is 2 diesel-powered engines. One day only power supply until 20-21h is to be cut off. Because electricity is powered by generators, the cost is very high, 5,000-6,000 VND / kWh, homes using a lot of high stairs can reach 15,000-16,000 VND / kWh. Most houses only use electricity for lighting and fans for essential needs. The tourism industry is less developed due to difficult travel and modest accommodation conditions. There are almost no hotels in the whole district, mainly small motels. Even if guests want to use the air conditioner, they have to pay extra electricity with very expensive prices. There is only one old police force on the big island. Therefore, traveling and transporting passengers and goods is very difficult. In 2010, Co To welcomed less than 5,000 guests. By 2011-2012, although the engine was more equipped and had a larger capacity, the guests only reached about 30,000 visitors. Also because there is no electricity, the seafood caught on the sea is difficult to preserve, many fishermen have to sell directly at sea to the merchant boats from the mainland to buy at low prices, because bringing back to the island is also difficult to preserve. and there is no electricity for processing. In addition to lack of electricity, Co To also lacks fresh water. During the dry season, families have to divide each barrel of water. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, former Secretary of Co To island district in the period of 2010-2015, recalled: “When I went to the island to take office as the island district’s secretary and president, I and the district leaders also struggled to find solutions to overcome the power shortage. lack of water, lack of boats for people on the island, but until 2011 it is only possible to start the construction of freshwater reservoirs, while pulling electricity is too far away, never can do it ”. With that same lake, Mr. Thanh used to sign a “military status order” with the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: “In August 2011, just a few days after he took office as Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh made a visit. Unofficially went to Co To money island district. Myself and a comrade drove the new Secretary to visit the island on the only pickup truck borrowed from the district police. When he saw that we were building the Truong Xuan freshwater lake, he asked how long the project would take, I said it took 3 years because of lack of capital. Then the Secretary asked: If the province prioritizes to allocate capital, can you do it in 1 year, do it quickly but must ensure the quality? I confirmed that I could do it, the Secretary immediately asked to write the commitment, I made 2 copies, 1 copy sent to the Provincial Party Committee and one sent to the Provincial People’s Committee. After supplementing capital and mobilizing labor, mechanical equipment, we put the lake into operation on time as committed, still operating well, is the largest source of fresh water on the island ”. Regarding electricity, Mr. Thanh said, at that time he reported to the Secretary the optimal plan is to pull cables, but with difficulties in technology and capital; If we make coal-fired power, we cannot develop tourism because it will be polluted for the whole island. “At that time, the Secretary did not make any decisions, we did not know if we could pull the cable to the island, because there has never been such a long submarine cable project in Vietnam,” said Thanh. A few weeks after the new Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee’s visit to Co To, Mr. Thanh was summoned to attend a meeting of Quang Ninh leadership chaired by Pham Minh Chinh Provincial Party Secretary, where a decision made 5,000 people. Co To island district is very happy: Pulling electricity by underground cable to the island. Mr. Thanh said at that time, the head of the party committee of Quang Ninh province told him: “We try to bring electricity to the island, to build a reservoir to take care of water for the people, then the enterprise will invest in a modern fleet. connect the island to the shore “. So, the three difficult things of Co To have been solved. Technically, to pull the grid to the island is a big challenge as the longest underground cable distance is 25 km (between island and island). Technology to pull electrical cables under the seabed was very new and almost nonexistent in Vietnam. To bury the cable, the engineering unit must use a robot to cut the rock, dig the surface of the seabed to a depth of about 1.5-2 m, then the divers lower the cable to the newly dug slot, then place a solid material. special coating to protect the underground cable bundle. Many people are skeptical about the safety and feasibility of towing the cable under the sea. Another problem is the huge cost of capital to pull out electricity, up to more than 1,000 billion dong. In 2011, the budget for development investment of the whole Quang Ninh was only about 6,000 billion VND, not too much for such a large project. The Northern Power Company cannot afford to do a big project, while the immediate business efficiency is not high. “There were many difficulties, but the Secretary and the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee at that time were determined to pull the power grid to the island. The difficulties in both finance and technology have been gradually removed with a drastic, urgent and detailed participation ”, recalled Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh. Project scale includes more than 27.5 km of 2-circuit 110 kV transmission line; 22 km of 22 kV overhead transmission line; 23 km of underground cable line; 8 cutting stations 22 kV; 12 substations and 34 km of low voltage transmission lines. The 100 kV line sections are wired by a hot air balloon, while the average depth of the seabed to lower the underground cable is 29 m. At that time, the leaders of Quang Ninh province had a valuable decision to include fiber-optic Internet in the bundle of electrical cables, so now Co To has both grid electricity and broadband optical fiber lines. The project’s estimate is about VND 1,100 billion, of which the Northern Power Corporation will contribute VND 350 billion. The remaining amount in Quang Ninh is about 830 billion, mobilized by socialization and the provincial budget. Many Quang Ninh people cannot forget a very exciting and meaningful campaign to contribute: Contribute to the people to pull electricity out to Co To. Each civil servant in the whole province contributes 1 day of his salary. The province also calls on people, businesses, social organizations, even people from Quang Ninh who are far away from their hometown to contribute. The remainder is taken from the provincial budget. After 350 days of construction, in October 2013, the project of pulling the grid to Co To by underground cable was completed before the overwhelming joy of the people of Co To and the whole province of Quang Ninh. Many old people on the island shed tears when they see the light from the national grid on the island. Young people radiant eyes look at computer screens, phones with high-speed Internet connection, merging with the global flow of information. Along with electricity, Truong Xuan lake with a capacity of 170,000 m2 together with Lake C4, Ong Thanh, Ong Cu … is a strategic source of fresh water for Co To island district. Thus, in just a few years, Co To had both electricity from the grid, fresh water, an unprecedented change in this front-end island. Every morning, Co To wharf is busy with dozens of tram cars waiting to welcome guests, see off guests, and carry goods from ships connecting to the mainland. Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, owner of a 2-star hotel near the wharf, recalled that eight years ago, when Co To did not have electricity, he never dreamed that he could do it like today. After Co To got electricity, Hung finished building a small motel. The number of visitors to the island increased sharply this year and a half years ago, making his motel continuously expand. Anh Hung is now the owner of a 2-star hotel with nearly 60 rooms, a few more electric cars to pick up guests. Mr. Nguyen Toan, manager of Tuan Vu Hotel on Co To Island recalled in 2013, when the owners on the mainland poured hundreds of billions to build a 3-star hotel on the island, many relatives and friends were discouraged. and said “crazy”. Someone said Co To at that time was both difficult and difficult to come by. When we invested so much money, we knew when we could recover our capital. However, with the love of the sea and islands and seeing the potential for development, the owner is still determined with his plan. And the sweet fruit has come to the summer tourism season in 2014. The hotel is always in a full room with many large groups of guests. The investor initially expected 12-15 years to break even, but so far has been able to recover the capital in 8-9 years. Since the electricity came on, the number of visitors to Co To skyrocketed. From 35,000 turns in 2012, in 2019 (before the translation of Covid-19), Co To received nearly 300,000 visitors, nearly 10 times higher than before. When electricity is available, many people also have conditions to invest in accommodation, food, and services to provide tourists. On the contrary, as the service develops, more tourists come to Co To. Currently, traveling from the mainland to Co To is very convenient with many trains going and arriving during the day. There was even a 5-star standard train running the Cai Rong – Co To route which traveled less than 60 minutes, can be used in the wind situation of level 7, carrying 850 passengers / trip at the same time. On the island, there are 300 electric cars to serve tourists, nearly 200 accommodation establishments, nearly 2,500 rooms, 51 homestays … Up to now, Co To can welcome 10,000 tourists at the same time. Tourism revenue from 50 billion in 2013 to reach 700 billion in 2019. With electricity and water available, the processing industry also developed. People can invest in means, catch seafood and then return to deep processing on the spot to sell at high prices. The Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of District People’s Committee Co To Le Hung Son said that the most important thing when having electricity and water is to help improve people’s lives in all aspects, the economy can achieve important developments. The average income of Co To people reached 4,500 USD / year, higher than the national average of more than 1,000 USD. “Improving people’s lives and economic development is also a measure to maintain security and national defense in the country’s pre-emptive and anti-dumping islands,” said Mr. Son. Mr. Thanh said that the success of Co To today is a clear proof to see the vision and determination of the provincial leaders before. Mr. Le Hung Son said that in the future, Co To strives to become stronger, and welcomes 1.6 million visitors by 2030. The island will also focus on attracting large investors, bringing tourism to development. larger, with more premium products to increase the spending per visitor. She also wished that in the near future, she would be approved with the policy of building a small airport, serving tourism and national security, avoiding obstacles caused by weather and climate change. “Past generations of leaders have created a foundation for fundamental change in Co To island district. We want to continue to grow, making Co To become an indispensable destination for tourists ”, Mr. Son said.
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