Racing against time

It takes more than one hour to travel from Bac Giang city to Tuan Mau commune. The expanded 293 road cut the travel time between the province’s urban center and Tay Yen Tu. These days, Dong Thong hamlet in Tuan Mau commune has been filled with machinery and construction materials, and many items of the works there are going to be completed.

Continual rains over months have made the site muddy and slippery, but the working atmosphere is still busy. Standing on the ground of Lower pagoda, visitors could easily see the shape of a large-scale and modern tourist area hidden in a thin layer of drifting fog.

As it is a key work while the festival’s opening is days away, contractors have to make the extra effort and extra working hours, even on holidays or weekends. During the recent New Year festival, workers and engineers worked in the site till 10 pm. Some even have not returned home for two months.

Lê Minh Ngọc, deputy head of the Tay Yen Tu Services JSC, said over the past two months, construction units have overcome difficulties and deployed workforce and vehicles to fulfill work despite rains, chilly weather and thick fog. Over 200 experts, engineers and workers from 6 construction units and 2 consulting units worked on such items as the pagoda, a suspension bridge, square, a stream-overlooking restaurant, Hoang Thanh gate, technical infrastructure, clean water supply facilities, waste treatment area, a medium-voltage power line, among others.

Authorised agencies and the investor have regularly reminded workers of ensuring labor safety, protecting landscapes and forest natural resources. Several works are going to be completed such as Upper and Lower pagodas, equipment for the suspension bridge, cabins, and the road from the station to Upper pagoda. Square area and Hoang Thanh gate will provide a 3,000 sq.m ground for the festival’s opening, which will be completed between now and the Lunar New Year festival.

Several local firms donated construction materials such as bricks, cement, sand, and equipment to works around Lower pagoda. The investor will continue upgrading a road between the foot of the mountain and Upper pagoda and plan to finish paving the ground and installing gates of Lower pagoda before the Lunar New Year festival.

Destination for the upcoming Spring

The infrastructure of the Tay Yen Tu eco-spiritual tourism site is being completed.

Launched in 2014, the first phase of the Tay Yen Tu spiritual-ecotourism project has so far been completed. Visitors and local people are excited upon the good news that the Spring festival in Tay Yen Tu and the inaugural ceremony of the tourist area are scheduled for the 12th of the first lunar month. Their anticipation once again affirmed that the project helps consolidate the trust of Party members and people in Bac Giang province in general and people in Son Dong district in particular in the policy on tourism development.

After eight times of compensation, local residents agreed with the land clearance and resettlement plans and many households have started new and stable lives. Than Van Nguyen, from the Dao ethnic group in Tuan Mau commune said that his family is proud and delighted to see the homeland changing remarkably. Local residents expressed their hope that once the tourism complex is put into operation, it will create more jobs and raise people’s income.

According to the Tay Yen Tu Services JSC, the cable car system construction is behind schedule due to unfavorable weather. Therefore, the cable car system has yet to serve visitors in the upcoming Spring festival. Even though, visitors will still be able to make a pilgrimage, explore and enjoy a number of other cultural activities and events.

Contractors also pointed out remaining difficulties, including severe weather, high humidity due to hilly location, which greatly affected the building process. For example, the workers had to wait for sunny weather often in the afternoon to paint parts of Upper pagoda. Torrential rains caused slippery roads, making it difficult to bring equipment to the construction site. It took hours for many foreign experts and workers to reach the top of Yen Tu mountain to continue with the building of the cable car system and other facilities in Upper pagoda.

Regarding the walking route linking the pagoda with Phat Hoang statue, construction of the route has yet to begin as it is under the authority of Quang Ninh province. Relevant departments and sectors are seeking solutions to this issue.

To make the opening ceremony a lasting impression, Son Dong district and the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism have set out specific plans. Tuan Mau commune has promoted widely about the upcoming event and mobilized human resources and instruments to clear the environment and ensure security.

At a recent inspection on implementation progress of the Tay Yen Tu project, Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang People’s Committee Le Anh Duong assigned Son Dong district to arrange local stores and services, and the Tay Yen Tu Services JSC to prepare all needed conditions to put the tourism site into operation safely and legally. The company was requested to plan its workforce with a priority on recruiting local workers.

We left Mau Tuan when mist came down from the mountain. Looking at smiling faces of local people we met and new projects along the road, we felt how the land has changed to become the destination of the next spring.

Source: baobacgiang.com.vn