Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam is truly༺ entering the final stretch towards the finish line of eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses, Deputy Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Nong Thi Ha has affirmed.

With the determination of “leaving no one behind,” promoting the spirit of solidarity, cooperation, proactivity, creativity, and through breakthrough approaches, the country has so far eradicated over 205,000 makeshift and substandard houses. This result has created a vibrant competitive spirit among various levels, sectors, localities, business communities, and the people, Ha affirmed. The official stated that to provide homes for the poor and vulnerable, and to implement the Party’s Resolution 42, in 2024, the Prime Minister launched a nationwide emulation movement to jointly do away with temporary and dilapidated houses by 2025. Since the programme's launch, the country has supported over 125,000 houses for poor and near-poor households; more than 26,300 houses for people with meritorious services to the nation; and over 51,400 others through national target programmes. To achieve these results, Ha noted that many organisations and localities have applied innovative methods and provided very practical and effective assistance in eliminating these kinds of houses nationwide. She took the banking sector as an example, as it pledged support of 1.3 trillion VND (49.7 million USD) immediately after the Prime Minister’s launch and assigned specific banks to assist localities. To date, the banking sector has transferred approximately 1.2 trillion VND to localities. The military has also identified the elimination of temporary and dilapidated houses as a mission, a political responsibility, and a heartfelt commitment of Party committees and commands at all levels, and officers and soldiers. So far, the military has contributed over 600 billion VND and mobilised more than 21,000 officers and soldiers with over 76,500 workdays to support this work. As a result, as of June 9, 21 out of 63 localities nationwide had completely eliminated makeshift and substandard houses. Sharing more about favourable factors, the Deputy Minister said that an important reason for strengthening confidence is that two major bottlenecks in the implementation process - funding and land - have been identified and solutions have been found. To date, over 90% of the funds have been transferred as committed, with the remaining amounts still undergoing completion of payment procedures. Regarding land, at the first meeting of the Central Steering Committee for this work, the Prime Minister issued strong directions to solve issues in areas without disputes. Drawing on practical experience from localities facing land difficulties, valuable lessons have been learned and can be applied. Therefore, the two biggest “bottlenecks” have now been removed, Ha affirmed. In June 8, the Prime Minister also issued an official dispatch urging ministries and localities to accelerate efforts and complete the national housing support goal by August 31, 2025, with priority given to families of war martyrs and national contributors by July 27. Authorities have been requested to ensure transparency and effectiveness in implementation, while the Ministry of Construction has been tasked with monitoring progress and clearing obstacles. The campaign is viewed as a significant social policy, reflecting the state’s care for the disadvantaged and affirming national solidarity and the humanitarian values of the Vietnamese people./.